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The rising inflation is also affecting the setting of the minimum wage for next year.

Even now, the price is so high that it is scary to buy anything, but it seems that the price will rise even more in the second half of this year.

When we asked some companies, many answered that raw materials are so expensive these days that they have no choice but to raise the price.



This content was covered by reporter Jae Hee-won.



<Reporter>



A toilet paper manufacturer in Cheonan, Chungcheongnam-do.

The raw material warehouse that should be full is more than half empty.



This is due to the sharp rise in the price of raw materials and the exchange rate.



The price of natural pulp, which is used as raw material for toilet paper, has jumped nearly 30% from five months ago.



Although labor costs are reduced and distribution steps are minimized, the pressure to increase prices is high.



[Uhm Jung-hoon / CEO of a toilet paper company: Raw materials usually account for more than half of the cost.

Even a 10% increase in pulp is reflected in the product price by 5%.

Last month, we raised product prices by about 5%.

The industry says that there will be another increase next month.] According to the



Bank of Korea investigation, 4 out of 10 Korean companies answered that their raw material prices jumped by 20% or more compared to last year due to the Ukraine crisis and the lockdown in China. .



[Clothing manufacturer representative: (logistics cost) has doubled.

If you cut your own flesh and make a loss, the small businesses you run may go bankrupt.

I think this year will be a particularly difficult year.]



Almost 70% of places have already raised the price of a product or service.



More than half of companies have not raised their prices yet, but plan to raise them within this year.



An increase in a company's costs can be reflected in the price of goods or services, leading to a vicious cycle of raising prices.



The risk of a recession is high.



[Kim Jeong-sik / Professor Emeritus of Economics, Yonsei University: If the price is raised, consumption will decrease and the economy will stagnate, which can become a difficult situation for companies again.

(From the company's point of view) As profits decrease, employment can be reduced...

.]



The fact that companies are considering price increases is also a signal that they expect further inflation in the future, so the pace of inflation in the second half of the year is likely to increase.



(Video editing: Jo Moo-hwan, VJ: Park Hyun-woo, CG: Im Chan-hyuk)