Official figures released on September 9 reveal that China's producer price index (PPI) rose 3.8% year-on-year in August 2026, with a monthly increase of 0.4%. In parallel, the purchasing price index for industrial producers climbed 5.8% compared to the same period last year and edged up 0.3% from the previous month.

Looking at the eight-month average from January to August, factory-gate prices were 2.0% higher than the corresponding period last year, while the cost of goods purchased by producers increased by 3.2% during the same timeframe.

Year-on-Year Price Movements

In August, the prices of production materials surged 5.0% year-on-year, contributing approximately 3.92 percentage points to the overall PPI increase. Within this category, the extraction industry witnessed a substantial jump of 17.8%, raw materials industries rose by 6.7%, and processing industries advanced 3.1%. Conversely, consumer goods prices dipped 0.5%, trimming about 0.10 percentage points off the headline index. Notably, food prices fell 2.3% and clothing prices declined 1.2%, while durable consumer goods gained 1.2%.

Among the inputs purchased by industrial producers, the cost of non-ferrous metal materials and wire products escalated sharply by 19.8% year-on-year. Fuel and power costs were up 9.8%, chemical raw materials increased 9.5%, textile materials rose 3.8%, and ferrous metal materials inched ahead by 0.3%. On the flip side, prices for construction materials and non-metallic items dropped 3.2%, while agricultural by-products slipped 0.5%.

Month-on-Month Price Changes

Compared with July, production material prices advanced 0.4% in August, adding roughly 0.32 percentage points to the monthly PPI movement. Within this segment, extraction industry prices gained 2.7% and raw materials industries rose 0.8%, whereas processing industries remained flat. Consumer goods prices edged up 0.2%, contributing 0.04 percentage points to the monthly change, with food and clothing prices staying stable, general daily necessities easing 0.2%, and durable consumer goods advancing 0.6%.

On the purchasing side, fuel and power costs rose 1.4% month-on-month, non-ferrous metal materials and wire products increased 0.8%, and textile materials gained 0.6%. In contrast, ferrous metal materials declined 0.6% and chemical raw materials dropped 0.4%, while agricultural by-products and construction materials held steady.