NBS: China April CPI dips 0.1%, PPI falls 2.7% YoY

China's CPI managed to grow slightly on a monthly basis, mainly driven by the strengthening of the prices for food and travel services across the country, explained Dong Lijuan, a senior statistician with NBS.

Last month, domestic food prices edged up 0.2% from March. Notably, the prices of beef and marine fish rose 3.9% and 2.6% respectively on month, NBS data showed. "The decline in beef imports limited its availability in China last month, while the fish supply also shrank as some regions entered fishing off-season," Dong noted.

Meanwhile, the prices of air tickets in April jumped 13.5% from March, and those of hotel accommodation also rose 4.5% on month, as travel activities picked up late last month ahead of China's Labour Day holiday over May 1-5. On a yearly basis, however, Chinese food prices slipped 0.2% in April, while those for tourism fell 0.5%, according to NBS data.

Excluding food and energy, China's core inflation in April climbed 0.2% on month and 0.5% on year, NBS data showed.

On the other hand, China's PPI stayed on a downtrend last month, dragged by the weakening of the prices for global commodities, according to NBS. For example, Chinese prices for oil and natural gas drilling in April decreased by 3.1% on month and slumped 14.2% on year, as global prices of crude oil declined, NBS data showed.

Meanwhile, the prices of coal mining and processing also slid 3.3% on month and tumbled 15.2% on year with China's coal demand entering the traditional summer lull. The waning domestic demand also caused the prices in the steelmaking and fabricating sector to soften 1% on month and drop 8.6% on year in April, according to NBS data.

During January-April this year, China's CPI dipped by 0.1% from the same period last year, while PPI decreased 2.4% on year, according to NBS statistics.

Written by Anthea Shi, shihui@mysteel.com

Edited by Alyssa Ren, rentingting@mysteel.com