Producer prices in China’s manufacturing industry rose at their strongest ever pace in September due to high energy and raw material costs.
There are also shortages of certain materials on top of that. Moreover, soaring sales prices in the world’s largest exporting country could also further fuel inflation worldwide, as Chinese exporters pass the higher costs on to customers.
Producer prices rose by 10.7 percent compared to a year earlier, according to the Chinese statistical office. That is the strongest increase since the start of the measurements in 1996. The figure is also stronger than economists had expected. In August, producer prices in China already climbed by 9.5 percent.
Chinese manufacturers are dealing with very sharp increases in the price of coal and electricity and even energy shortages, hampering production. Added to this are other supply problems, including scarcity of certain commodities, pushing prices up.
This puts pressure on the profits of Chinese companies, forcing them to increase their selling prices even further to remain profitable. Worldwide inflation is already rising sharply due to the high costs of energy and raw materials.