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The price of alcohol in Korea is on the rise due to soaring ingredients, oil and logistics costs. Beer brewer Hite announced a 5.6 percent price hike from Friday, with the wholesale price of a 500 ml bottle of beer to rise from W940.87 to W993.55 (US$1=W1,013). The discount store retail price will increase from W1,100 to W1,200. Hite blamed the hike on soaring barley prices, up 40 percent from last year, and a rise in all costs across the board including logistics. Oriental Brewery (OB) also plans to raise its prices soon.
Whiskey prices are already up. On June 30 Diageo raised the price of a 500 ml bottle of 12-year-old Windsor 4.9 percent from W19,900 to W20,890, while the price of the 17-year-old version increased 6.4 percent from W29,890 to W31,810.
Jinro Ballantines also raised the prices of its 12-year-old and 17-year-old flagship whiskey Imperial by 5.0 percent and 6.4 percent last month. But prices of the Korean distilled liquor soju will remain as they are for the time being.
(englishnews@chosun.com )
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