NBS: China's August CPI rises 0.8%, PPI gains 3.8% YoY

China's Consumer Price Index (CPI) a main gauge of inflation - increased 0.8% in August from a year earlier and rose 0.4% from July, while the Producer Price Index (PPI) for the same month gained a larger 3.8% on year and advanced 0.4% on month, according to the latest data released by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) on Wednesday.

August saw China's CPI growth slightly gather pace from July's 0.5% on-year uptick, and on a monthly basis, the index also registered positive growth after declining for three months straight, driven mainly by higher energy prices, according to Dong Lijuan, a senior statistician with NBS.

Chinese gasoline prices jumped 7.2% on month and leaped 9.3% on year in August as global crude oil prices firmed, the NBS noted. Meanwhile, the CPI was also pushed up by the upbeat gold market, as domestic prices for gold jewelry rose swiftly by 7.6% on month and surged 33.6% on year in August, per the release.

In the same month, China's food prices edged up 0.4% from the previous month amid ample supply but dropped 1.4% on year. Excluding energy and food, China's core inflation nudged up 0.1% on month and gained 1% on year in August, according to NBS.

On the other hand, the strengthening global energy prices also provided steady upward momentum for China's PPI, which measures costs for goods at the factory gate, Dong noted.

Chinese prices in the oil and natural gas drilling industry rose 6.1% on month and leaped 10.5% on year in August, while prices in coal mining and processing gained 2.8% on month and soared 26.6% on year, NBS data showed.

In addition, the country's ongoing industrial transformation and upgrading have spurred demand across emerging industries, Dong observed. For example, prices in the manufacturing of electronic circuits, virtual reality equipment, and service consumer robots increased by 3.5%, 1.9%, and 0.3%, respectively on year, in the past month.

However, China's prices for steelmaking and fabrication slipped 0.9% on month and dipped 0.3% on year in August, as the hot and damp weather in summer curbed steel demand among construction end-users, according to Dong.

Over January-August, China's CPI rose 0.9% from a year earlier, while PPI gained 2% on year, NBS statistics showed.

Written by Anthea Shi, shihui@mysteel.com

Edited by Alyssa Ren, rentingting@mysteel.com