MNI 5 THINGS: China February PPI Unchanged, CPI at 1-Year Low

     BEIJING (MNI) - Here are five points of note from China's February

inflation data released by the National Bureau of Statistics on Saturday:

     - Producer price index (PPI) rose 0.1% y/y, flat from that in Jan, still

the lowest level since Sept 2016. It was below 0.2% projected in an MNI survey.

It fell 0.1% monthly, compared with 0.6% m/m contraction in Jan.

     - About 17 of 40 industries reported declining ex-factory prices including

computers, communication and cement. The price of automobiles dropped 0.2%,

compared with no changes reported in Jan.

     - About 15 of 40 industries reported rising ex-factory prices: oil and gas

exploration, oil, coal and other fuel processing, ferrous metal processing, and

non-ferrous metal processing reversed losses to gains at 5.0%, 0.9%, 0.3% and

0.1% on a monthly basis.

     --CPI was 1.5% y/y in Feb, the lowest since Jan 2018, and down from 1.7% in

the previous month. An MNI survey of economists had projected 1.4%. 

     --CPI rose 1.0% from Jan, fueled by increasing food prices due to higher

demand in the Chinese New Year and supply reduced by cold weather. Food prices

rose 3.2% m/m compared with 1.6% gain in Jan. Prices of non-food items rose 0.4%

m/m.

--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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