In December last year, China's producer price index (PPI) for its ferrous metal smelting and rolling sector rose by 5.0 percent year on year, 3.0 percentage points higher compared to November last year amid good demand from downstream users and the high levels of raw material prices, while it was up 3.3 percent month on month, according to data released by China's National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) on January 11.
China's overall producer price index (PPI) edged down by 0.4 percent year on year in December, and increased by 1.1 percent month on month. Meanwhile, in December Chinese industrial producers' purchase prices remained stable year on year and were up 1.5 percent compared to November last year. In 2020 overall, China's overall producer price index (PPI) edged down by 1.8 percent year on year, while Chinese industrial producers' purchase prices were down 2.3 percent year on year.