At South Korea's fried chicken diners, palm oil squeeze feeds inflation fears

SEOUL (April 29): Mr Lee's diner, a cheap-and-cheerful fried chicken shop near central Seoul, has held firm against raising prices for a decade and a half. But now, Mr Lee says, Indonesia's cooking oil export ban and its costly squeeze on prices have been the last straw: he expects to follow larger chains of South Korea's ubiquitous "chimaek" fried chicken-and-beer outlets that are raising prices, even if he risks losing customers. Mr Lee's dilemma highlights the perilous path ahead for policymakers in Asia's fourth-largest economy, where worries over cost-push inflation prompted a surprise rate hike this month with both inflation rates and expectations at their highest in a decade. For a wide array of consumer goods using palm oil — from croissants to cosmetics — Indonesia's surprise moves over the past week to ban exports have sent shock waves globally, pushing up prices for palm oil from other sources such as Malaysia, and for substitutes like soy oil. "We are cautiously ...