Industrial value-added in August up 17.5% year on year

The National Development and Reform Commission yesterday issued a report, showing a rapid growth in industrial production for August, with industrial value-added increasing 17.5% year on year. The growth speed was 0.5 percentage point slower than July but 1.8 percentage points higher than the same month of last year.

Data also show the value added in light industry and heavy industry each registered a 14.8% and 18.8% increase, both slower than July. Between Jan. and Aug., the figures were 16% and 19.4% respectively, showing a 0.7 and 1.1 percentage-point pickup year on year.

August also saw an upswing in the prices of production materials. The market price of product materials in circulation rose 1% compared with that in July, or 3.3% year on year. The ex-factory price of industrial products posted a 2.6% increase year on year, up 0.2 percentage point than July. Raw materials, fuel and power all showed a 3.8% hike in prices, up 0.2 percentage point month on month.

In terms of major industrial operations, production of coal, electric power and oil registered stable growth but production of steel, flat glass and non-ferrous metal slowed down a bit than the previous month. Prices of steel products, cement and flat glass picked up somewhat. A slowdown was also recorded in the production and export of mechanical, electronic goods and textile. Light industry showed an increase in export.