Posted on 13 Feb 2023
After staying unchanged on month in December, China's CPI posted an increase last month with the impact of the nationwide Chinese New Year celebrations, according to Dong Lijuan, a senior statistician with the NBS.
In January, Chinese food prices rose 2.8% on month and 6.2% on year, with both increments larger than December. Specifically, prices of fresh vegetables and fruits jumped by 19.6% and 9.2% respectively on month, and on a yearly basis, their prices gained 6.7% and 13.1% respectively, the NBS data showed.
However, the country's pork prices declined further by 10.8% on month in January, as domestic pork supply continued to rise, Dong noted. Though pork prices went up 11.8% on year, the pace was also slower than the 22.2% on-year growth of December.
In addition to food, Chinese consumer demand for travel and entertainment also surged last month since the country had fully lifted the COVID-19 prevention and containment measures, according to Dong. The NBS data showed that prices of air tickets soared 20.3% on month in January, and prices of tickets for movies and shows also rose 10.7% compared with December.
Meanwhile, China's PPI continued to lose ground in January due to the weakening coal prices in the country and the sliding global oil prices, Dong noted.
Accordingly, prices in China's oil and natural gas drilling industry declined 5.5% on month, and prices in oil, coal and other fuels processing industry also fell 3.2% on month. Nevertheless, on a yearly basis, prices in the two sectors increased 5.3% and 6.2% respectively, with the increments both smaller than December.
Chinese prices in the coal mining and processing sector dipped too by 0.5% on month in January, though they edged up 0.4% on year, the NBS data showed.
In contrast, domestic prices in steelmaking and fabrication industry increased 1.5% on month, as market participants turned optimistic about steel consumption, according to Dong.
Source:Mysteel Global
