South Korea’s export prices fell for five months in a row in July, but terms of trade improved for the fourth consecutive month.
According to data released by the Bank of Korea on Wednesday, the country’s export price index decreased 8.6 percent from the same month a year ago in July, extending its losing streak for five straight months. The fall was mostly driven by subdued prices of transport equipment, coal and petroleum products.
Import price index also tumbled 11.1 percent over the period due to the weakening prices of mining and petroleum products.
The nation’s export volume index also dropped 0.7 percent on year, while import volume index edged up 0.5 percent.
Net terms-of-trade index for goods gained 4.2 percent last month from a year earlier, keeping the growth pace for four straight months as import prices fell at a faster pace than export prices, the data found.
Income terms of trade, a measure of total amount of goods that a country can import for its total exports, grew 3.4 percent thanks to the gain in net terms-of-trade index.