South Korea's August PPI rises 0.2% as heatwave pushes up agricultural prices
South Korea's central bank said on September 18 that the country's producer price index, or PPI, rose in August as agricultural prices climbed due to the impact of a heatwave. The PPI increased 0.2% in August from the previous month, after falling 0.4% in July, which was the first decline since August 2025. Compared with the same period a year earlier, the PPI rose 7.9% in August, accelerating from a 7.7% increase in July. The Bank of Korea said prices of industrial goods, including petroleum and chemical products, remained flat in August from the previous month, while electricity, gas and water prices rose 0.9%. Prices of agricultural, livestock and fishery products rose 3.8% in August, accelerating from a 1.5% increase in July from the previous month, driven by prolonged high temperatures throughout the month. The domestic supply price index, which reflects both producer and import prices, fell 1.3% in August from the previous month.
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Indonesia Tightens Penalties for Forest Burning, Weighs 'Ecological Terrorism' Law
Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto has ordered relevant agencies to tighten legal enforcement and penalties against those using slash-and-burn methods to clear land, after the country faced weeks of severe forest fires that produced haze affecting neighboring countries. At a cabinet meeting, Prabowo said the government would not be lenient toward individuals or companies responsible for the fires, and instructed the Minister of the Presidential Secretariat and the Minister of Law to consider ways to increase legal penalties, and proposed that the government discuss with the House of Representatives to tighten the law, possibly classifying such burning as "ecological terrorism" given the severity of the problem. He also ordered local governments to revoke exemptions that allow smallholder farmers to use fire to clear small plots, and directed police to pursue criminal cases against companies that violate fire prevention measures. Reports say the Indonesian government has mobilized more than 50 aircraft to drop water and conduct cloud seeding to control the fires, while Japan sent three CH-47 Chinook helicopters to join the water-dropping mission on Wednesday, September 16. This fire season is the most severe in 11 years, amid weather from a "super El Niño" phenomenon that has left forests and agricultural land severely dry, with Borneo and Sumatra the worst-affected areas. The haze has increased respiratory illness cases and pushed air quality in Singapore and Malaysia to levels harmful to health. Government data show that from January to July this year, fires burned 202,000 hectares, or nearly 500,000 acres, while YKAN, an environmental group, estimates that fires caused an additional roughly 600,000 hectares, or 1.4 million acres, of damage in August. Indonesian Forestry Minister Raja Juli Antoni warned that the fires could persist into early November, as the rainy season is likely to arrive later than previously expected.
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Verisk Maplecroft warns Asia faces unrest risk from food crisis as Thailand's sugar output slumps
Verisk Maplecroft, a risk consultancy, warns that erratic weather and the fallout from the Iran war could heighten food security risks in Asia and may lead to social unrest and political instability in vulnerable countries such as India, Indonesia and the Philippines. In a report published on 17 September, it said the Iran war has affected the supply of fuel and fertiliser, key inputs for the agricultural sector, while extreme weather from a strong El Niño is also hitting farm output in several Asian countries. Indonesia, the world's largest palm oil producer, is battling hard-to-control wildfires that are disrupting harvests, while India, the world's largest rice exporter, has seen monsoon rainfall 15% below normal. Thailand, meanwhile, is likely to see a sharp drop in sugar output and remains heavily dependent on energy and fertiliser imports, while facing pressure from farmers' debt burdens ahead of the next planting season. Data from Verisk Maplecroft's food security index shows that more than half of the countries at high or critical risk on food security are also in the two highest-risk groups on its civil unrest forecast index, including India, Bangladesh, the Philippines and Indonesia. Protests have already broken out in the Philippines and Indonesia in recent weeks, and Verisk Maplecroft warns that if pressure from food prices and supplies intensifies and governments are seen as responding ineffectively, it could lead to unrest and political instability in these high-risk countries. In countries already facing conflict, such as Afghanistan and Myanmar, a food shock could increase the risk of a humanitarian crisis.
