China producer price inflation accelerated to a 13-year high in August on higher commodity prices, while consumer price inflation slowed unexpectedly, official data showed on Thursday. <\/p>\n
Producer prices advanced 9.5 percent annually, following an increase of 9 percent in July, the National Bureau of Statistics reported. The latest growth was the biggest since August 2008. Prices were forecast to climb again by 9 percent. <\/p>\n
Month-on-month, producer prices grew 0.7 percent in August.<\/p>\n
Consumer price inflation rose to 0.8 percent in August from 1 percent in July, the NBS said in a separate communiqu\u00e9. The rate was forecast to remain unchanged at 1 percent. <\/p>\n
The government targets consumer price inflation of around 3 percent for 2021.
On a monthly basis, consumer prices edged up 0.1 percent, much slower than the expected rate of 0.5 percent.<\/p>\n
Core consumer price inflation, which strips out volatile items such as food and energy, eased marginally to 1.2 percent in August from 1.3 percent in July.<\/p>\n
Food prices were down 4.1 percent, following a 3.7 percent decrease in the July. Non-food prices advanced 1.9 percent after increasing 2.1 percent in July.<\/p>\n
The breakdown of producer prices suggests that upward pressure on the factory-gate prices of consumer goods is easing, Julian Evans-Pritchard and Sheana Yue, economists at Capital Economics, said. PPI inflation is likely to ease before long.<\/p>\n
The economists noted that headline consumer price inflation should remain below 2 percent in the coming quarters and is unlikely to constrain the People’s Bank of China’s ability to loosen policy. <\/p>\n