appConfigEntityId

bodyType

customContents

entityId

entityUuid

isVideo

articlePageQuery

article

articleSchemaContent

content

hooksArticlePageAdvertisementConfigArticle

hooksArticlePageFloatingButtonConfigArticle

appConfig

filter

json

liveArticle

Xinyi Wu

China’s factory-gate price growth accelerated in August, while consumer inflation picked up again, amid volatile energy and commodity costs linked to the US-Israel war on Iran.
The producer price index rose 3.8 per cent year on year last month, up from 3.5 per cent in July, according to data released by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) on Wednesday.
The reading beat a 3.6 per cent projection from economists polled by financial data provider Wind.
Meanwhile, the consumer price index (CPI), a crucial gauge of inflation, rose 0.8 per cent year on year, rebounding after two months of slower growth. That figure improved upon July’s 0.5 per cent rate and was broadly in line with Wind’s projection of a 0.78 per cent rise.
“Rising international prices for crude oil and non-ferrous metals drove up prices in related domestic sectors,” said Dong Lijuan, a senior NBS statistician.
Dong noted that coal mining prices surged 26.6 per cent year on year in August, while non-ferrous metal processing rose 20.8 per cent. Prices in the oil and gas extraction industry climbed 10.5 per cent.


Lynn Song, chief economist for Greater China at ING, said he expected higher input costs to continue supporting reflation.
“The inflation data shows a clear sector-by-sector split, mirroring the broader economy’s uneven momentum,” Song said.
Factory-gate prices have been rising since March, as higher energy and input costs resulting from the US-Israel war on Iran broke a spell of deflation stretching back 41 months.
After a brief respite when oil touched a wartime low amid a temporary truce in early July, Washington and Tehran resumed retaliatory strikes, keeping the vital Strait of Hormuz shipping lane effectively closed.
Despite higher prices, the world’s second-largest economy is struggling to meet its annual CPI target of about 2 per cent, with domestic consumption weighed down by a prolonged downturn in the property market and a trying labour landscape.
Dong said sharper rises in energy prices contributed 0.28 percentage points to the year-on-year rise in CPI in August, but falling food prices offset gains, with lower pork prices subtracting 0.22 percentage points.


Pork prices, however, rose 1.3 per cent month on month in August, hinting at recovery.
Xing Zhaopeng, senior China strategist at ANZ Research, said he expected the rebound in pork prices to support CPI in the second half of the year, with concerns over the El Nino weather cycle reinforcing expectations of higher food inflation.
Core inflation, excluding volatile food and energy prices, rose 1 per cent year on year in August.
Consumer goods prices were up 0.8 per cent, service prices rose 0.8 per cent and food prices fell 1.4 per cent.
Song said he expected CPI to rise around 0.9 per cent year on year in 2026 – below Beijing’s target – but added the figures would be unlikely to sway monetary policy.
Xing similarly noted that the rebound in inflation reduced the urgency of a near-term rate cut.
“For China to escape from long-term deflation, the government is expected to lean on supply-side measures, such as the anti-involution push and reforms in public service pricing,” Xing said.


Mooncakes for the dog? How China is reinventing its iconic festive snack

Blue Bottle bets that Chinese consumers will drink more premium coffee

Skydiving, whale watching and a burst of bookings as holidays extend for millions in China

China’s top priority should be wages, not AI

China consumption

China’s factory-gate price growth picks up in August as Iran war fuels energy volatility

Workers on an electric vehicle production line at the Volkswagen Anhui factory in Hefei, Anhui province. Photo: Reuters

A worker at a suitcase factory in Jian, central China's Jiangxi province. Photo: Getty Images

Brent crude stares down the barrel of US$100 barrier as global frictions raise supply risk

The price of diesel is displayed at a petrol station in New York on Friday. The national average price of retail diesel hit a record high on Thursday as the cost of crude oil rebounded. Photo: Xinhua

Why are fuel and petrochemical prices outpacing crude – and how long will it last?

Refined petroleum products, widely used in manufacturing and industrial production, are facing tightening global supplies. Photo: Shutterstock

China’s factory-gate prices growth slows to 3.5% in July amid lower fuel prices

A staff member examines electric tricycles before shipment in China’s Shandong province on July 30, 2026. Photo: AFP

China’s export machine strengthens in August as US critiques trade imbalance

Workers inspect a turbine set for export at a factory in Deyang, southwest China’s Sichuan province. Photo: Xinhua

Iran plans new ‘exclusion zone’ outside Strait of Hormuz after ship attacks

A motorboat passes a general cargo ship anchored in the Strait of Hormuz off Bandar Abbas, Iran on Sunday. Photo: AP

US Central Command said Saturday that one of the tankers it struck, the Kylo, had sunk in the Gulf of Oman. Photo: US Central Command via Reuters

Mohsen Rezaei, the head of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council. Photo: Reuters

Economy

China Economy

Global Economy

News

World

Middle East

Producer price index rises 3.8 per cent, beating economists’ projections amid war-driven oil surge and weak domestic demand


Producer price index rises 3.8 per cent, beating economists’ projections amid war-driven oil surge and weak domestic demand.


China’s factory-gate price growth picks up in August as Iran war fuels energy volatility

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}Producer price index rises 3.8 per cent, beating economists’ projections amid war-driven oil surge and weak domestic demand

Producer price index rises 3.8 per cent, beating economists’ projections amid war-driven oil surge and weak domestic demand