South Korea’s producer prices rose 0.2 percent in September, but annual inflation eased to 7.7 percent from 7.9 percent in August. Weaker semiconductor and memory-chip prices, helped by a stronger won, offset higher food and utility costs, while the index excluding food and energy was unchanged on month.
Holiday demand pushed agricultural and livestock prices higher, while residential electricity prices jumped after a summer tariff discount expired. Upstream costs in petroleum, chemicals and energy remained elevated, leaving inflation pressures mixed ahead of the Bank of Korea’s policy meeting, where economists broadly expect rates to stay unchanged for now.
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