In May this year, China's producer price index (PPI) for its ferrous metal smelting and rolling sector increased by 1.0 percent year on year, compared to a year-on-year decline of 1.1 percent recorded in April, while edging up by 1.2 percent month on month, 0.6 percentage points faster compared to the rising pace recorded in April, reflecting steelmakers’ production halts and the impact of the ongoing crackdown on “involution-style” competition, according to the data released by China's National Bureau of Statistics (NBS).
Meanwhile, in the January-May period this year, China's PPI for its ferrous metal smelting and rolling sector decreased by 2.0 percent year on year, 0.7 percentage points slower than the decrease recorded in the January-April period.
In May, China's overall PPI increased by 3.9 percent year on year and by 0.5 percent month on month. Also in May, Chinese industrial producers' purchase prices rose by 5.8 percent year on year and by 1.3 percent compared to April.
In the first five months this year, China's overall PPI increased by 1.0 percent year on year, while Chinese industrial producers' purchase prices rose by 1.6 percent year on year.
The increase of the PPI in the January-May period indicated a moderate increase in the selling prices of industrial enterprises' products. However, input costs such as raw materials have risen at a faster pace, squeezing profit margins for enterprises in mid-stream and downstream sectors.
