NBS: China's Mar CPI up 0.1%, PPI down 2.8% YoY
The on-month growth in China's CPI turned negative again last month, while its on-year rise also slowed down from that in February, Mysteel Global noted. The subdued consumption activity after the Chinese New Year (CNY) holiday was mainly to blame for the losses, according to Dong Lijuan, a senior statistician with the NBS.
Domestic food prices slipped by 3.2% on month and 2.7% on year in March, becoming the largest drag on the CPI last month, the NBS data showed.
People's food consumption retreated from the holiday peak, Dong explained, adding that the warm-than-usual temperatures in large parts of the country gave a boost to the supply of fresh fruits and vegetables, which also weighed on the food prices.
Last month, Chinese prices of fresh vegetables dropped a marked 11% on month and lost 1.3% on year, while those of fresh fruits fell 4.2% and 8.5% respectively, according to NBS data.
Excluding food and energy, China's core inflation fell 0.6% on month but gained 0.6% on year in March, as NBS assessed.
As for the country's PPI, it continued moving downward as the recovery of domestic industrial demand post-CNY was slow, according to Dong.
For example, slack consumption of steel products in China led the prices in its steelmaking and fabrication industry to move lower by 1.2% on month and 7.2% on year in March, while the coal mining and processing sector also saw its prices slide 1.6% on month and slump 15% on year due to the weak heating demand in spring, the NBS data showed.
However, the rises in the global prices of crude oil drove up the prices in the related industries in China, with the prices of domestic oil and natural gas drilling industry gaining 1.1% on month and 6.3% on year in March, according to NBS data.
Over January-March, China's CPI remained unchanged overall compared with the same period last year, while the PPI fell 2.7% on year, according to NBS statistics.
Written by Anthea Shi, shihui@mysteel.com
Edited by Alyssa Ren, rentingting@mysteel.com
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