Producer prices rose for the fourth consecutive month in March due to an increase in the prices of agricultural and industrial products. 

The Bank of Korea(BOK) said on Tuesday that the producer price index for all commodities and services rose zero-point-two percent from a month earlier to stand at 122-point-46 in March, rising for the fourth consecutive month.

Compared to the same month last year, the index, a key indicator of future inflation, saw growth of one-point-six percent as it showed year-on-year increases for the eighth consecutive month.

The rise is led by a one-point-three percent increase in the prices of agricultural, forestry and fishery products, with the prices of Chinese cabbage and dried seaweed products jumping 36 percent and nearly 20 percent, respectively, from the previous month.

The prices of industrial goods also gained zero-point-three percent month-on-month in March, with petroleum products rising zero-point-five percent. 

A BOK official attributed the rise in the costs of industrial goods to an increase in global oil prices, projecting that the rise is likely to continue in April amid the heightened tensions in the Middle East.