Anhui's PPI growth hits a new high in December

Anhui's producer price index (PPI), which measures costs of goods at the factory gate, rose 1.2 percent month-on-month in December, the highest level over the past 48 months, local authorities said at a meeting on Wednesday.

Due to the continuous price increases in international crude oil, prices of oil, coal and other types of fuel rose 6.9 percent on a monthly basis. The growth was 4.9 percentage points higher than that in November, according to the Economy and Information Technology Department of Anhui Province.

Prices in the nonferrous metal mining and dressing sector went up 6.2 percent in December, 4.2 percentage points higher than a month earlier, while prices in the ferrous metal mining and dressing sector increased 3.1 percent, 0.9 percentage points higher than in November.

Prices of chemical raw materials and products grew 1.5 percent month-on-month, compared to a 1.3 percent rise in November.

On a yearly basis, the PPI edged up 0.8 percent in December after decreases in nine consecutive months, the department said.

Prices in the nonferrous metal mining and dressing sector and the ferrous metal mining and dressing sector rose 11.6 percent and 5.4 percent year-on-year, respectively.

Prices of oil, coal and other types of fuel declined 4.7 percent. Prices in the coal mining sector went down 4.1 percent. In addition, prices of chemical raw materials and products fell 1.2 percent.