Price of Industrial Products Rises in FebruaryThe price of industrial products continued to rise in February, but the increase rate was smaller than in January.According to figures released Tuesday by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), the price of industrial products rose 0.9 percent on average in February, 0.5 percentage points less than the growth in January. Though the smaller price hikes caused a decrease in the growth of sales revenue of industrial enterprises, the profits of industrial enterprises maintained a robust growth. According to latest statistics, the total profits of Chinese industrial enterprises jumped 45.8 percent over the same period of last year during January-February. NBS said that the growing price of materials for production remained to be the major force driving up the price of industrial products. In February, the price of materials for production went up 1.8 percent on a monthly basis, 0.9 percentage points lower than the growth in January. The price of products in the mining industry rose 7.8 percent, 3.4 percentage points lower than the growth in January. According to the NBS, the falling oil price in the international market has put a brake on the surge in the prices of oil products in China. In February, the price of oil products rose 13.7 percent, 11.3 percentage points less than the monthly growth in January. NBS figures showed that the price of materials for consumption was still lingering at low levels, dropping 1.4 percent in February. Durable consumption goods saw the largest decrease of price in February, dropping 3.9 percent over January. The price of foodstuffs, apparels and daily necessities dropped 0.3 percent, 0.1 percent and 1.5 percent respectively. |
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