BEIJING, Nov. 9 (Xinhua) -- China's producer price index (PPI), which measures costs for goods at the factory gate, beat market expectations to reach a 55-month high in October, official data showed Wednesday.

The reading increased 1.2 percent year on year, the highest reading since March 2012, according to the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS).

On a month-to-month basis, it increased 0.7 percent amid warming prices as more industries were surveyed, with the number increasing by two to reach 27, NBS senior statistician Yu Qiumei said.

Moreover, the turn is closely linked to higher prices in some key industries like coal mining and washing, Yu said in a statement.

Prices in the coal mining and washing industries increased 15.4 percent year on year, the highest since July 2012, while ferrous metals metallurgy and rolling saw a price increase of 13.1 percent over the previous year.

Factors including rising prices of coal and steel might lead to continuous rises in PPI, analysts pointed out.

China's producer price index is expected to continue to increase year-on-year in the coming months, statistics bureau spokesperson Sheng Laiyun said in late October.

The PPI figures came along with the release of the consumer price index, which rose 2.1 percent year on year in October, and fell 0.1 percent on a monthly basis.