S. Korea's trade terms surge in Q3

SEOUL, Nov. 12 (Yonhap) -- South Korea's terms of trade jumped in the third
quarter from a year earlier as import prices fell faster than export prices, the
central bank said Thursday.
The nation's net terms-of-trade index for goods reached 86.2 in the
July-September period compared with 76.9 a year earlier, the Bank of Korea (BOK)
said in a statement.
The index climbed to a revised 89.6 in the second quarter, the highest level
since the third quarter of 2007 when the reading was 90.5.
The index is calculated by dividing the per-unit export price by the per-unit
import price. With a benchmark 100, the gauge sets 2005 as the base year.
"The higher trade-term index came as unit prices for imports declined at a faster
pace than those for exports," the BOK said in the statement.
Per-unit import prices tumbled 29.2 percent on-year in the third-quarter as costs
for crude oil, steel and nonferrous metals fell sharply, according to the central
bank.
Per-unit export prices, meanwhile, were down 20.6 percent during the cited
period, the BOK said.
South Korea's trade terms hit a record low of 75.1 in the fourth quarter of last
year, but have since grown steadily as the global economic recession has eased,
reviving overseas demand for Korean products. Exports account for over 50 percent
of the nation's economic growth.
The economy, Asia's fourth-largest, expanded 2.9 percent in the third quarter
from the previous three months, the fastest growth in over seven years.
pbr@yna.co.kr
(END)