China's producer price index up 6.6% from previous year

In February, China's producer price index (PPI) for manufactured goods rose 6.6 percent year over year, and the growth was 0.5 percentage points higher compared with January. Prices for raw material, fuels and power rose 9.7 percent, the National Bureau of Statistics of China announced on March 10, 2008.

The price for means of production increased 7.2 percent year over year of which the PPI for mining and quarrying increased 25.3 percent, raw materials increased 8.8 percent and manufacturing increased 4.1 percent. The PPI for means of consumer goods increased 4.9 percent of which price for foodstuff increased 11.0 percent, clothing increased 1.8 percent, and commodities rose 3.4 percent, while durable consumer goods dropped 0.6 percent.

The price for crude oil increased 37.5 percent year over year.

•Gasoline: up 8.7 percent

•Diesel: up 9.8 percent

•Kerosene: up 11.4 percent

Prices for polystyrene dropped 1.4 percent compared with the same month last year; latex rose 20.3 percent; and terylene dropped 1.6 percent. Prices for the coal mining and washing industry increased 18.5 percent year over year of which the PPI for crude coal jumped 19.4 percent. Prices for the smelting and pressing of ferrous metals rose 17.9 percent year over year: ordinary large rolled steels (up 18.9 percent), medium rolled steels (up 29.6 percent), small rolled steels (up 27.8 percent), wire rod (up 25.6 percent) and heavy steel plate (up 18.5 percent). Prices for the smelting and pressing of nonferrous metals increased 6.6 percent year over year of which copper and lead rose 6.3 percent and 30.9 percent, respectively. Aluminum and zinc dropped 0.3 percent and 24.9 percent, respectively.

Prices for fuels and power products rose 17.7 percent, fuel and power rose 15 percent, nonferrous metal materials rose 6.8 percent, and chemical materials and ferrous metals rose 4.2 percent.

From January to February, the price for manufactured goods rose 6.4 percent compared with the same period last year; and the price for raw materials, fuels and power rose 9.3 percent. China's PPI for manufactured goods has maintained its acceleration for the past seven months. China's PPI for manufactured goods in 2007 was up 3.1 percent year over year.

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