[THE INVESTOR] Korea’s producer prices rose in December, marking the first monthly gain in two months, the Bank of Korea said on Jan. 22.

The producer price index -- a barometer of future consumer inflation -- stood at 103.14 last December, up 0.1 percent from a month earlier, according to preliminary data from the central bank.

In spite of declines in major commodity prices and the Korean currency‘s strength against the U.S. dollar, producer prices rose last December because of a 1 percent increase in prices of agricultural, dairy and fishery goods, the BOK said in a statement.

Prices of industrial goods, including oil products, were unchanged last December after climbing 0.1 percent the previous month, the data showed.

Year-on-year, the producer price index gained 2.3 percent last December, marking the 14th consecutive month of gains.

For all of 2017, producer prices rose 3.5 percent on year, according to the data.

By Alex Lee and newswires (alexlee@heraldcorp.com)