China’s factory gate prices rise in June during brief Iran war respite
The producer price index rose for a fourth month in a row amid a momentary ceasefire, though consumer price increases missed expectations
China’s factory-gate prices continued to rise in June despite a temporary easing of the US-Iran conflict that had previously driven up energy costs, while domestic demand remained weak.
The producer price index (PPI) increased 4.1 per cent year on year last month, compared with a 3.9 per cent rise in May, according to data released by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) on Thursday.
The increase matched a projection from economists polled by financial data provider Wind.
Meanwhile, the national consumer price index (CPI), a major gauge of inflation, rose by 1 per cent year on year last month, compared with a 1.2 per cent increase in May. The reading, a three-month low, missed the 1.16 per cent year-on-year growth projected in the Wind survey.
Dong Lijuan, a senior statistician at the NBS, noted in a statement that despite rising domestic demand from specific sectors – such as AI equipment and air conditioning due to the summer heat – falling global crude oil prices slowed the expansion of factory-gate prices on a month-on-month basis.
China’s factory-gate prices have been rising since March, due to the imported inflation resulting from the US-Iran conflict, which broke a spell of deflation stretching back 41 months.