S. Korea's producer price rebounds on expensive crude oil

SEOUL, March 20 (Xinhua) -- price for goods and services among South Korean suppliers rebounded in five months on expensive crude oil, central bank data showed Wednesday.

The producer price index stood at 103.81 in February, up 0.1 percent from a month earlier, according to the Bank of Korea (BOK). It was the first turnaround since September last year.

Higher crude oil price led to the producer price hike. Dubai crude, South Korea's benchmark, averaged 64.59 U.S. dollars per barrel in February, up 9.3 percent from the previous month.

price for industrial goods gained ground on an increase in price for diesel and gasoline, which advanced 6.1 percent and 4.5 percent each in February from a month ago.

DRAM memory chips and mobile phones saw their price among suppliers fall 6.9 percent and 3.4 percent each last month.

Farm goods price declined 3.6 percent in February from a month earlier, but services price added 0.2 percent on a hike in taxi fare in the capital Seoul.

price for electricity, tap water and natural gas rose 0.1 percent last month.