China’s factory-gate price growth picks up in August as Iran war fuels energy volatility
China’s factory-gate price growth accelerated in August, while consumer inflation picked up again, amid volatile energy and commodity costs linked to the US-Israel war on Iran. The producer price index rose 3.8 per cent year on year last month, up from 3.5 per cent in July, according to data released by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) on Wednesday. The reading beat a 3.6 per cent…
China's factory-gate price growth surged in August as the ongoing US-Israel war on Iran fueled energy and commodity price volatility, according to data released by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) on Wednesday. Producer price index (PPI) rose 3.8% year on year, up from 3.5% in July, exceeding economists' expectations of 3.6%.
The national consumer price index (CPI) increased 0.8% year on year, rebounding from slower growth in July and aligning with Wind's 0.78% projection. Senior statistician Dong Lijuan attributed the surge to rising international prices for crude oil and non-ferrous metals, with coal mining prices surging 26.6% year on year and non-ferrous metal processing up 20.8%.
Oil and gas extraction industry prices climbed 10.5%. This marks the first rise in factory-gate prices since March, as higher energy and input costs from the US-Israel war on Iran ended a 41-month deflation period. Despite higher prices, China struggles to meet its 2% annual CPI target, as domestic consumption is hampered by a prolonged property market downturn and weak labor market.
Core inflation, excluding food and energy prices, rose 1% year on year, with consumer goods prices up 0.8%, service prices up 0.8%, and food prices falling 1.4%.
Written by urgent.news from South China Morning Post's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
