MNI 5 THINGS: China December PPI Drops to 2-Year Low; CPI Down

     BEIJING (MNI) - Here are five takeaways from China's December inflation

data released by the National Bureau of Statistics on Thursday:

     - Producers price index (PPI) gained 0.9% in Dec over a year ago, the

lowest level since Sept 2016, below 1.6% projected in an MNI survey. It

decelerated 1.0% m/m after contracting 0.2% in Nov-Oct. Overall, PPI for 2018

rose 3.5%.

     - Production material price cooled 1.3% from Nov, dragging down PPI by 0.96

percentage point m/m.

     - Ex-factory prices in four industries: oil and gas exploration, oil, coal

and other fuel processing, ferrous metal processing, and chemical products

manufacturing fell 12.9%, 7.6%, 4.3% and 1.9% from Nov.

     - Consumer price index (CPI) was 1.9% y/y last month, down from 2.2% in

Nov, and was the smallest gain since June 2018. An MNI survey of economists had

projected 2.1%. Inflation in 2018 rose 2.1%, well below the government's 3%

ceiling. 

     - CPI m/m was flat from Nov, compared with 0.3% m/m decrease in Nov-Oct.

Food prices rose 1.1% m/m compared with 1.2% m/m decline in Nov-Oct. Prices of

non-food items fell 0.2% m/m, extending the 0.1% decline in Nov-Oct.

--MNI Beijing Bureau; +86 (10) 8532-5998; email: wanxia.lin@marketnews.com

--MNI Beijing Bureau; +86 10 8532 5998; email: william.bi@mni-news.com

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