China's Producer Price Index (PPI) recorded a month-on-month increase of 0.4% in January, although it fell by 1.4% compared to the same period last year. The National Bureau of Statistics attributed the sequential rise to factors including the ongoing development of a unified national market, increased demand in certain sectors, and the transmission of international commodity prices.
The continued advancement of the national unified market contributed to price increases in specific industries. In January, cement manufacturing and lithium-ion battery manufacturing prices both rose by 0.1%, marking the fourth consecutive month of growth for both sectors. Prices for photovoltaic equipment and component manufacturing shifted from a 0.2% decline in the previous month to a 1.9% increase.
Concurrently, accelerated development of digital technologies such as artificial intelligence and growing computing demand drove a 0.5% month-on-month price increase in the computer, communication, and other electronic equipment manufacturing industry. Within this category, electronic semiconductor materials and external storage devices and components saw price increases of 5.9% and 4.0% respectively. Increased pre-holiday demand for gifts and food items contributed to price rises of 4.1% in arts and crafts and ceremonial products manufacturing, and 0.3% in agricultural and sideline food processing.
Influenced by external factors, China's nonferrous metals and petroleum-related industries showed divergent price trends. Rising international nonferrous metal prices drove domestic nonferrous metal mining and processing prices up by 5.7%, while nonferrous metal smelting and rolling processing prices increased by 5.2%. International crude oil price fluctuations led to declines of 3.1% in domestic petroleum extraction and 2.5% in refined petroleum product manufacturing.
Year-on-year, the January PPI decline of 1.4% represented a narrowing of 0.5 percentage points compared to the previous month. The ongoing effectiveness of capacity management in key industries was evident as the year-on-year price declines in non-metallic mineral products, ferrous metal smelting and rolling processing, and computer communication and other electronic equipment manufacturing all showed narrower margins than the previous month.
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