National Bureau of Statistics interprets March PPI: International input factors affecting domestic industries prices rising or decreases narrowing.

Dong Lijuan, Chief Statistician of the Urban Department of the National Bureau of Statistics, interpreted the Producer Price Index (PPI) data for March 2026. The national PPI increased by 0.5% year-on-year, a turnaround from a 0.9% decrease the previous month, marking the first increase in 41 months. The main features of the year-on-year operation of the PPI this month are as follows: 1. International input factors have impacted the prices of related industries domestically, causing either an increase in prices or a narrowing of the decline. The prices of non-ferrous metal ore mining and dressing industry increased by 36.4% year-on-year, while prices in non-ferrous metal smelting and processing industry increased by 22.4%. The prices in the petroleum and natural gas extraction industry turned from a 12.9% decrease last month to a 5.2% increase this month. Prices in the petroleum, coal, and other fuel processing industry, as well as the chemical raw materials and chemical product manufacturing industry, decreased by 4.5% and 0.3%, respectively, with declines narrowing by 7.5 and 3.4 percentage points from the previous month. 2. The supply and demand relationship in some domestic industries has improved, leading to price increases. The market competition order continues to optimize, with prices in the photovoltaic equipment and component manufacturing industry and the lithium-ion battery manufacturing industry increasing by 5.2% and 2.5%, respectively. New growth engines are growing stronger, with prices in fiber optic manufacturing increasing by 76.1%, external storage devices and components increasing by 21.1%, and electronic specialized material manufacturing increasing by 18.7%. The green transformation empowers development, with prices in biomass fuel processing and comprehensive utilization of waste resources increasing by 6.1% and 0.9%, respectively.