China's factory-gate inflation rises 0.5 percent

China's producer prices rose at their fastest pace in more than four years in September while consumer inflation edged up, as higher oil and commodities lifted factory-gate costs. The producer price index (PPI) rose 5 percent from a year earlier, new data from the National Bureau of Statistics showed, up from 3.8 percent in August. That marks the fastest pace of factory-gate inflation since June 2022. Higher oil and commodity prices, driven by transport disruptions, adverse weather and geopolitical tensions, have increased cost pressures for manufacturers. "Much of the upward pressure still came from commodity supply disruptions caused by the Middle East conflict, with prices rising particularly sharply in fuel processing, chemicals and non-ferrous metals," said Nguyen Hoang Nam, China economist at Capital Economics. The consumer price index (CPI) gained 0.9 percent year-on-year, up from a 0.8 percent increase in August. Gasoline prices soared 16.6 percent from a year earlier and contributed about 0.47 percentage points to headline CPI growth, the statistics agency said. Beijing has stepped up support for the economy, approving an additional 550 billion yuan in unused local government bond quota for infrastructure and other spending, adding to measures such as mortgage subsidies. Core inflation, which excludes volatile food and energy prices, was...