韩国主要免税运营商将国内品牌参考汇率从1500韩元下调至1400韩元

Korea's duty-free industry is lowering its reference exchange rate back to 1,400 won, just one month after raising it to 1,500 won. The reference rate is the exchange rate that duty-free operators apply when setting the sale prices of domestic products. It is unusual for the duty-free industry to make an additional adjustment in the opposite direction just one month after a hike, signaling that Korean companies have recently been exposed to an environment of high exchange-rate volatility.
According to the duty-free industry on the 7th, Lotte, Shilla, Shinsegae, and Hyundai duty-free operators are cutting the reference rate applied to domestic brand products by 100 won, from 1,500 won to 1,400 won. Lotte Duty Free and Hyundai Duty Free will change and apply the reference rate starting the same day, while Shilla Duty Free and Shinsegae Duty Free will do so from the 10th of this month.
This marks the first time in a year, since June 2025, that the duty-free industry has lowered its reference rate. At that time, major duty-free companies lowered the reference rate from 1,400 won to 1,350 won, but raised it back to 1,400 won last November as exchange-rate volatility increased. They subsequently raised the reference rate to 1,450 won in March this year and to 1,500 won last month.
The reason the duty-free industry lowered the reference rate this way is that exchange-rate volatility has recently increased. As recently as last month, the exchange rate stayed in the 1,500 won range for an extended period, but it recently dropped sharply into the 1,400 won range. As of the morning of the same day, according to the Seoul foreign exchange market, the won-dollar exchange rate has been fluctuating around the 1,420 won range.
The reference rate is the exchange rate that duty-free operators apply to calculate the dollar sale prices of domestic brand products supplied in won. Because the method divides the won price by the reference rate to set the dollar sale price, the lower the reference rate, the higher the dollar-denominated sale price.
For example, a domestic cosmetic product priced at 150,000 won is about $100 when the 1,500 won reference rate is applied, but the perceived price rises to $107 when 1,400 won is applied. The industry expects that this reference rate adjustment will raise the duty-free sale prices of domestic brand products by around 6%.
"In the past, exchange-rate movements had a certain trend, but recently, due to geopolitical situations such as war, it has become difficult to predict medium- to long-term exchange-rate movements," a duty-free industry official said. Another duty-free industry official said, "As the range of exchange-rate fluctuations has widened, we are adjusting the reference rate accordingly," adding, "We are comprehensively considering various factors such as the range of exchange-rate fluctuations, the price perceived by customers, and profitability."