China's October PPI Data: Industrial Expansion Amidst Global Market Fluctuations

On November 9th, the National Bureau of Statistics released the data for China's Producer Price Index (PPI) for October, revealing that industrial production and operations maintained expansion. Influenced by factors such as fluctuations in international crude oil and non-ferrous metal prices, as well as the higher base from the same period last year, the month-on-month PPI in the country shifted from an increase to stability, with a slight increase in the year-on-year decline.

In October 2023, the national PPI for industrial producers decreased by 2.6% year-on-year and remained unchanged month-on-month. The year-on-year decrease in the purchasing prices for industrial producers was 3.7%, with a month-on-month increase of 0.2%.

Looking at the month-on-month perspective, the PPI shifted from a 0.4% increase in the previous month to stability. Due to the impact of fluctuations in international crude oil and non-ferrous metal prices, the prices in the petroleum and natural gas extraction industry and petroleum, coal, and other fuel processing industry increased by 2.8% and 2.5%, respectively, with a decrease in the growth rates by 1.3 and 0.6 percentage points. Additionally, the prices in the coal mining and washing industry increased by 3.4%, expanding by 2.3 percentage points. Furthermore, the chemical raw materials and chemical product manufacturing industry saw a 0.7% month-on-month growth.

From a year-on-year perspective, the PPI decreased by 2.6%, expanding by 0.1 percentage points compared to the previous month. The widening year-on-year decline is mainly influenced by the higher base from the same period last year. In major industries, the narrowing decline rates include: coal mining and washing industry decreasing by 15.4%, narrowing by 0.2 percentage points; chemical raw materials and chemical product manufacturing industry decreasing by 6.9%, narrowing by 0.2 percentage points; petroleum, coal, and other fuel processing industry decreasing by 3.8%, narrowing by 2.9 percentage points. Additionally, the petroleum and natural gas extraction industry shifted from a 3.3% decrease last month to a 1.7% increase.

In terms of industrial producer purchasing prices, fuel and power prices decreased by 6.7% year-on-year, with a 1.4% month-on-month increase. Chemical raw material prices decreased by 6.3% year-on-year, with a 1% increase compared to the same month last year.

For the January to October average, industrial producer prices at the factory decreased by 3.1% compared to the same period last year, and industrial producer purchasing prices decreased by 3.6%.