S.Korea to Scrap Import Duties on Flour, Aluminium

Seoul, July 29 - Seoul will scrap import duties on wheat flour and aluminium ingots from August, the government said on Tuesday in its second tariff cut in four months aimed at stabilising soaring domestic prices. South Korea, which imports almost all its grain and energy needs, had already removed import duties on key raw materials such as corn, wheat, soymeal and nickel ingot in April, and it slashed tariffs on oil products to curb inflation. But it has kept import duties of 1 percent on crude oil and liquefied natural gas, as it seeks to curb energy consumption and fears a tax cut may reduce the government's tax revenues. The latest removal of import tariffs comes as domestic inflation soared to decade highs, stoked by record global commodities prices, with food products accounting for nearly 10 percent of the product basket used to measure inflation. Source: Reuters