With weaker local currency and concerns over Japan's trade restrictions, prices of South Korean chips actually increased in August.<br />Prices of other goods, like industrial and agricultural products, also went up.<br />Yoon Jung-min has the details.<br />Prices of semiconductors rose in August for the first time in 13 months due to a weaker Korean won and concerns over a possible drop in supply due to Tokyo's export curbs on Seoul.<br />The Bank of Korea said on Wednesday that both import and export price indices went up last month due to the weaker local currency against the greenback.<br />In August, the average won-dollar exchange rate was up nearly 3 percent on-month to around 1-thousand-209 won against the greenback.<br />And as the market is concerned about a possible production cut in semiconductors, there was higher demand for chips, including DRAMs, Flash Memory and System Semiconductors.<br />It's been over two months since Japan imposed export restrictions on key materials used in making chips,... with only three shipments bound for Seoul allowed so far.<br />An official at the central bank said the export curbs caused chip prices to go up.<br />Some experts said the price hike is not just a temporary market reaction but in fact, the price has begun to stabilize at a higher level.<br />The overall export price index was up 1-point-5 percent.<br />Other than semiconductors, the price index for industrial products was up 1-point-4 percent led by transportation equipment and chemical products. Agricultural and fishery product prices were also up by two-and-a-half percent.<br />Oil and coal prices, however, were down due to a fall in international oil prices.<br />The import price index edged up zero-point-9 percent despite the fall in global oil prices.<br />Raw material prices fell slightly, but costs went up for intermediary goods, including computers and electronics.<br />Yoon Jung-min, Arirang News.<br />
