China Producer Prices Change

China's producer prices fell by 2.9% year-on-year in October 2024, following a 2.8% drop in the previous month and going beyond market expectations of a 2.5% decline. This marked the 25th consecutive month of producer deflation and the sharpest contraction since November 2023, reflecting persistently weak domestic demand despite ongoing efforts by Beijing to break the trend. The cost of production materials continued to decrease (-3.3%, -3.3% in September), dragged by further declines in mining (-5.1% vs. -2.5%), raw materials (-4.0% vs. -3.2%), and processing (-2.9% vs. -3.3%). Meanwhile, consumer goods prices remained subdued (-1.6% vs. -1.3%), with notable weakness in food (-1.6% vs -1.6%), clothing (-0.4% vs. -0.3%), and durable goods (-3.1% vs. -2.1%), although daily-use goods edged up slightly (0.1% vs. -0.3%). On a monthly basis, producer prices slipped by 0.1%, after a 0.6% decline in September. For the first ten months of the year, producer prices shrank by 2.1%.

China's producer prices declined by 2.8% year-on-year in September 2024, steeper than a 1.8% fall in the previous month and market forecasts of a 2.5% drop. This marked the 24th consecutive month of producer deflation and the sharpest contraction since March, driven by persistently weak domestic demand despite Beijing's continued efforts to reverse the trend. The cost of means of production saw a sharper decrease (-3.3% vs -2.0% in August), largely due to further falls in mining (-2.5% vs 0.9%), raw materials (-3.2% vs -0.8%), and processing (-3.3% vs -2.7%). At the same time, prices of consumer goods continued to shrink (-1.3% vs -1.1%), weighed down by food (-1.6% vs -1.3%), clothing (-0.3% vs -0.4%), daily-use goods (-0.3% vs flat), and durable goods (-2.1% vs -1.9%). On a monthly basis, producer prices fell by 0.6%, following a 0.7% drop in August. For the first nine months of the year, producer prices decreased by 2.0%.

China's producer prices shrank by 1.8% yoy in August 2024, steeper than a 0.8% drop in the previous month and steeper than market forecasts of a 1.4% fall. It marked the 23rd straight month of producer deflation and the highest figure since April, due to persistently weak domestic demand and the downward trend of some global commodity prices. A decrease in the cost of means of production gained traction (-2.0% vs -0.7% in July), mainly attributed to processing (-2.7% vs -2.1%) and raw materials (-0.8% vs 1.8%) as mining prices moderated sharply (0.9% vs 3.5%). Simultaneously, prices of consumer goods declined further (-1.1% vs -1.0%), largely dragged by food (-1.3% vs -0.7%), durable goods (-1.9% vs -2.0%), and clothing ( -0.4% vs -0.5%) while daily use goods prices were flat (vs -0.3%). Monthly, producer prices were down by 0.7%, the fastest pace in 14 months, following a 0.2% fall in the prior two months. Considering the first eight months of the year, producer prices retreated 1.9%.