{"text":[[{"start":12.35,"text":"China’s factory gate prices rose sharply last month as the US war in Iran drove energy prices higher and roiled supply chains."}],[{"start":20.9,"text":"The producer price index rose 4.1 per cent year-on-year in June, official data from the National Bureau of Statistics showed on Thursday, the highest growth rate since July 2022 and the fourth consecutive month of expansion. "}],[{"start":36.55,"text":"The figure compared with a 3.9 per cent rise in May, and was in line with the median forecast from a Bloomberg survey of analysts. "}],[{"start":44.199999999999996,"text":"China’s consumer price index, meanwhile, rose 1 per cent last month on a year earlier, moderating slightly from 1.2 per cent in the previous month and lower than analysts’ median forecast of 1.1 per cent. "}],[{"start":58.05,"text":"The producer price index reversed years of declines to return to positive territory in March, shortly after the US and Israel launched attacks on Iran, leading to the closure of the Strait of Hormuz and a surge in prices of factory inputs. "}],[{"start":null,"text":"
"}],[{"start":71.35,"text":"China’s economy for years grappled with deflation, given a prolonged property sector slowdown and tepid consumer confidence, though hostilities in the Middle East have prompted a sharp jump in producer prices."}],[{"start":84.5,"text":"The NBS said that the PPI items with the biggest rises in June included non-ferrous metal materials and wires, up 21.6 per cent, fuel and power by 11.8 per cent, and chemical raw materials at 11.5 per cent. "}],[{"start":99.75,"text":"Prices of those same materials decreased on a month-on-month basis, however, the NBS noted, in a sign that a tentative, 60-day deal agreed between the US and Iran last month to reopen the strait might be starting to have an impact."}],[{"start":116.2,"text":"That truce hung in the balance this week after a resumption of hostilities in the strait. US President Donald Trump said on Wednesday that he considered the ceasefire to be “over”. "}],[{"start":126.15,"text":"The overall PPI fell 0.3 per cent month on month, which NBS urban division chief statistician Dong Lijuan said was “affected by factors such as declining international crude oil prices”."}],[{"start":140.55,"text":"For consumer prices, among the biggest contributors were transportation and communication, up 4.1 per cent though, on a year-on-year basis, gasoline prices fell 4.9 per cent."}],[{"start":153.3,"text":"Julian Evans-Pritchard, chief China economist at Capital Economics, said the uptick in inflation caused by the Iran war “continued to unwind” in June, pointing to falling output prices “in most industries”."}],[{"start":167.55,"text":"“Inflation still looks set to return near zero once energy supply normalises,” he noted. "}],[{"start":182.25000000000003,"text":""}]],"url":"https://audio.ftcn.net.cn/album/a_1783576277_7775.mp3"}