China inflation for February

CPI 0.8% y/y - a lot lower than expected and the previous

  • expected 1.7%, prior 2.5%
  • At 0.8%, lowest y/y since January of 2015
  • For the m/m its down 0.2%
  • Food inflation on the month down 0.6% m/m, down 4.3% y/y (note, higher food prices ahead of the lunar new year holiday beginning in January sent January CPI higher ... that effect reversed in February)
  • Non-food inflation down 0.1% m/m and up 2.2% y/y

PPI 7.8% y/y - higher than expected and previous

  • expected 7.7%, prior 6.9%
  • 6th consecutive month of rises for the PPI
  • To 7.8% y/y, highest since 2008 (fastest increase since September of 2008)
  • For the m/m, up 0.6%
  • Fuels and metals driving the gains in the PPI, which is not surprising

'Factory gate' inflation surging, but at the consumer level not so much, as you can see.

I'll post more on the results separately.