High oil prices weigh despite falling exchange rate... September import prices rise for first time in 3 months

[Financial News] International oil prices surged sharply, sending import prices higher for the first time in three months. Export prices continued to fall for a second straight month on the stronger won. Strong exports of key items such as semiconductors pushed income terms of trade to a record high.
According to the preliminary September 2026 Export and Import Price Indexes and Trade Indexes released by the Bank of Korea on the 16th, the September export price index in won fell 0.8% from the previous month, marking a second consecutive monthly decline following a 3.5% drop in August.
Prices of coal and petroleum products rose as international oil prices climbed, but prices for most items fell as the won-dollar exchange rate declined 3.4% from the previous month (from an average of 1,406.30 won in August to 1,359.00 won in September).
Compared with the same month a year earlier, the index rose 40.9%, marking its 13th consecutive month of gains. This was because export prices for computers, electronic and optical equipment, coal and petroleum products, among other items, rose sharply.
The import price index rose 1.7% from the previous month, rebounding for the first time in three months as international oil prices surged despite the lower exchange rate. It was up 17.6% from a year earlier, as prices for mining products and other items rose.
Lee Heung-hu, head of the BOK’s Price Statistics Team, explained, “The biggest reason import prices rebounded in September was that monthly average international oil prices, including Dubai crude, surged 28.1% from the previous month (from an August average of $88.75 to $113.71 in September). As a result, raw material prices surged 9.6% from the previous month, led by mining products (10.8%), which include crude oil.”
Export and import volumes and values continued to post solid growth.
The export volume index surged 32.1% from a year earlier in September, as shipments of semiconductors, computer memory devices, mobile phones and semiconductor manufacturing equipment, among other items, increased. This was the largest gain in 16 years and eight months, since January 2010 (42.0%). The export value index also surged 89.2%.
The import volume and value indexes also rose 11.1% and 26.9%, respectively, from a year earlier.
The terms-of-trade indicators, which show how much the country gains from trade with other countries, continued to perform well.
The net barter terms of trade index rose 25.4% from a year earlier in September, as export prices (43.2%) rose much more than import prices (14.2%). In particular, the income terms of trade index, which shows the amount of goods that can be imported with total export earnings, climbed 65.7% from a year earlier, setting a new all-time high.
[email protected] Jeong Sang-gyun Reporter