South Korea producer prices rise in March at fastest in more than 3 years

SEOUL, April 22 (Reuters) – South Korea’s producer prices rose ​in March at ‌the sharpest pace in more than three years on a ‌surge ​in ⁠oil prices sparked ⁠by the Middle East conflict, central bank data showed on ​Wednesday.

The Bank of Korea’s producer ⁠price ⁠index rose 4.1% ​in March from a ​year earlier, after rising ‌2.5% in February. It was the fastest rise ⁠since February 2023.

On a monthly basis, the index ⁠rose ‌1.6%, marking the ⁠fastest since ​April ‌2022, as the ​prices of ⁠coal and petroleum products jumped 31.9%.

(Reporting by Jihoon Lee; Editing by Christian ​Schmollinger)