China's producer prices up 0.3 pct in H1

China's producer price index, which measures costs for goods at the factory gate, rose 0.3 percent year on year in the first half of 2019, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said Wednesday.

The construction site of the Hai’an Bridge in Hai’an City, Jiangsu Province, on July 8, 2019. [Photo: IC]

In June, the index was flat with the same period last year, according to the NBS.

On a monthly basis, producer prices went down 0.3 percent in June, compared with the 0.2-percent growth in May.

Factory prices of production materials dropped 0.3 percent year on year in June, compared with the 0.6-percent growth in May.

Consumer goods prices gained 0.9 percent year on year in June, flat with the growth in May.

Among major industries, ferrous metals mining and dressing saw price rise in June, jumping 18.5 percent from the previous year, according to the NBS.

The oil and natural gas extraction reported a price drop of 1.8 percent year on year.

A total of 18 sectors among 40 surveyed industries saw price hikes month on month, while 17 reported price drops and 5 witnessed unchanged prices.

Wednesday's data also showed China's consumer price index (CPI), a main gauge of inflation, rose 2.7 percent year on year in June, unchanged from the expansion in May.