November 9, 2026. China's producer prices rose 5.7 % year on year in October, up from 5.0 % in September, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said on Monday. Seoul Economic Daily says it is the fastest pace since June 2022, above the 5.3 % expected in a Reuters poll. Consumer inflation eased to 0.7 %.
Energy and metals lead
The NBS listed the biggest annual increases:
- Coal mining and washing: +36.6 %.
- Oil and gas extraction: +35.0 %.
- Petroleum, coal and other fuel processing: +29.9 %.
- Non-ferrous metal smelting: +18.6 %; non-ferrous metal mining: +16.3 %.
- Chemical raw materials and products: +16.4 %.
Month on month the index rose 0.7 %, slower than September's 1.2 %, and six energy-related industries contributed more than 80 % of the monthly increase. NBS chief statistician Dong Lijuan cited international energy prices, early winter heating demand, capacity adjustments in some industries and stronger demand for AI-related equipment and electronics.
Electronics up, consumer goods flat
Producer prices for computers, communications and electronics rose 5.9 %, and electrical machinery 6.2 %. At the consumer level in China, data storage devices rose 45.4 %, tablets 29.3 %, computers 23.0 % and mobile phones 16.7 %. Consumer goods were steady: textiles +0.2 % on the month, paper −0.4 % and furniture unchanged, which the NBS put down to ample supply and stable demand.
China releases its October trade figures on Tuesday, November 10.
Our take
Split your purchases. Finished consumer goods are still stable at origin, so it is a good moment to place early-2027 orders; items heavy in metal, plastic or electronics carry more risk of price revisions.
- Compare several factories through product sourcing before accepting an increase.
- Fix price, validity and production date in a written supplier contract.
- Run a product inspection, since rising input costs can tempt factories to swap materials.
