In April 2012, Producer Price Index (PPI) for manufactured goods decreased 0.7 percent, year-on-year, and 0.2 percent increase month-on-month. The purchasing price index for manufactured goods went down by 0.8 percent year-on-year, and remained the same level month-on-month. In the average from January to April, the PPI decreased 0.1 percent, year-on-year, the purchasing price index for manufactured goods went up by 0.6 percent year-on-year.

1. Year-on-Year Changes of Prices of Different Categories

The year-on-year change of producer prices for means of production decreased 1.2 percent. In which, producer prices for mining and quarrying industry increased 2.2 percent; that of raw materials industry increased 0.1 percent, while that of manufacturing and processing industry decreased 2.2 percent. Producer prices for consumer goods went up by 1.1 percent. Of which, producer prices for foodstuff increased 2.2 percent, that of clothing increased 2.1 percent, that of commodities up by 1.1 percent, while that of durable consumer goods dropped 1.1 percent.

The year-on-year purchaser price indexes for non-ferrous metal materials and wires decreased 5.7 percent, ferrous metals declined 3.0 percent, chemical raw materials decreased 3.0 percent, fuel and power increased 3.4 percent, building materials and non-metallic grew by 1.3 percent, wood and pulp climbed 0.8 percent, agricultural and sideline products went up by 0.5 percent.
 

2. Month-on-Month Changes of Prices of Different Categories

The month-on-month change of producer prices for means of production increased 0.2 percent. Of the total, producer prices for mining and quarrying industry increased 1.2 percent, that of raw materials industry increased 0.4 percent, that of machining industry remained at the same level. Producer prices for consumer goods up by 0.1 percent month-on-month. Of which, producer prices for foodstuff increased 0.3 percent; that of clothing up by 0.2 percent, that of commodities increased 0.2 percent, and that of durable consumer goods dropped 0.3 percent.

The month-on-month purchaser price indexes for fuel and power increased 0.7 percent, wood and pulp climbed 0.2 percent, agricultural and sideline products went up by 0.1 percent, non-ferrous metal materials and wires decreased 0.8 percent, building materials and non-metallic dropped 0.3 percent, textile raw materials and chemical raw materials went down 0.2 percent, simultaneously.

Price Indexes for the Industrial Sector in April
	Apr		Average of Jan-Apr
	M/M(%)	Y/Y(%)	Y/Y(%)
I. Producer Price Indexes	0.2	-0.7	-0.1
Means of production	0.2	-1.2	-0.6
Mining and quarrying	1.2	2.2	4.1
Raw materials	0.4	0.1	1.0
Processing	0.0	-2.2	-1.7
Means of subsistence	0.1	1.1	1.6
Food	0.3	2.2	2.7
Clothing	0.2	2.1	2.7
Articles for daily use	0.2	1.1	1.3
Durable consumer goods	-0.3	-1.1	-0.6
II. Purchaser Price Indexes	0.0	-0.8	0.6
Fuel and Power	0.7	3.4	5.3
Ferrous Metals	-0.1	-4.7	-3.4
Non-ferrous Metal Materials and Wires	-0.8	-5.7	-3.9
Chemical Raw Materials	-0.2	-3.0	-1.4
Wood and Pulp	0.2	0.8	1.3
Building Materials and Non-metallic	-0.3	1.3	2.2
Other Industrial Raw Materials and Semi-products	-0.1	-0.9	0.0
Agricultural and Sideline Products	0.1	0.5	1.8
Textile Raw Materials	-0.2	-0.9	0.7

Annotations:

1. Explanatory Notes

Producer Price Index for manufactured goods consists of producer price index and purchaser price index.

The industrial producer price index reflects the trend and level of prices change when the products are sold for the first time.

The industrial purchaser price index reflects the trend and level of prices change for the products purchased by the industrial enterprises as intermediate inputs.

2. Statistical Coverage

The statistical survey of industrial producer prices covers prices for over 11,000 products from 1702 subclasses, 191 groups; and the statistical surveys of industrial purchaser prices cover prices for over 6,000 industrial products from over 900 subclasses.

3. Survey Methods

Industrial producer prices are collected from combined surveys of key businesses and typical businesses. Starting from 2011, the key businesses are those with their turnover from primary activities over 20 million yuan, and the typical businesses are those with less than 20 million yuan. The surveys cover about 60,000 industrial enterprises in over 400 cities across the country.