China's producer prices rise 5% in September, fastest since June 2022
Producer prices accelerated as consumer inflation remained modest, pointing to an uneven rise in prices across China's economy.
China's producer prices rose 5% from a year earlier in September, their fastest increase since June 2022, according to CNBC and Bloomberg reporting on inflation data released in China on October 14. That puts a sharper rise in industrial prices alongside much slower consumer inflation.
The producer-price increase was up from 3.8% in August and exceeded the 4.5% forecast in a Reuters economist poll cited by CNBC. Consumer prices rose 0.9% from a year earlier, compared with 0.8% in August and a 1% forecast in the poll.
Fuel costs and weaker consumer demand
CNBC reported that China's National Bureau of Statistics cited winter heating demand for coal, temporary supply constraints in major coal-producing areas and expectations of higher international coal prices. Bloomberg's report, carried by CNBC-TV18, also pointed to higher oil prices, non-ferrous metals and more expensive AI-related goods. The reports do not establish how much each factor contributed to the overall increase.
Analysts quoted in the two reports described domestic demand as weaker than the rise in industrial prices might suggest: CNBC cited lackluster demand in connection with the lower-than-expected consumer reading, while Bloomberg quoted an economist saying domestic demand was recovering more gradually than the industrial sector.
Sources and context
- China's producer prices rise at fastest pace since June 2022, beating expectationsCNBC
- China’s producer prices jolted by oil as inflation reboundsCNBC-TV18 (Bloomberg report)
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