China’s Producer Prices Rise 5.7% Year on Year in October
Data released by China’s National Bureau of Statistics on November 9 showed that producer prices rose 5.7% year on year in October, the fastest increase in nearly four and a half years. Consumer prices rose 0.7% over the same period. High international oil prices drove up industrial costs, while weak domestic demand limited the pass-through to consumers.
Data released by China’s National Bureau of Statistics on November 9 showed that the producer price index (PPI) rose 5.7% year on year in October, up from 5% in September. It was the fastest increase in nearly four and a half years and exceeded the 5.3% forecast by economists surveyed by Reuters.
International oil prices remained high for most of October, pushing up costs in energy-intensive industries such as coal mining, oil and gas extraction and processing, and chemicals. This was one of the main drivers of the rise in producer prices.
Consumer price increases were more modest. The consumer price index rose 0.7% year on year in October, below September’s 0.9% and economists’ forecast of 0.8%. It was unchanged from the previous month, after rising 0.2% month on month in September. Excluding volatile items such as food and energy, core inflation was 0.8% in October, down from 1% in September.
China’s economy grew faster than expected in the third quarter, supported by resilient exports, but weak household demand continued to constrain consumer spending and prevented upstream cost pressures from fully reaching consumers. Persistent trade tensions and uncertainty about the global economic outlook continued to weigh on export prospects.
Source: VietVance
