China factory gate prices up 5.7% in October, consumer goods flat

MONDAY, 9 NOVEMBER 2026

Chinese factory-gate prices rose 5.7% in October, the fastest pace since June 2022, driven by energy and chemicals. Consumer goods left the factory at -0.1%: what to expect from suppliers for 2027 orders.

China factory gate prices jumped again in October: factory-gate prices rose 5.7% from a year earlier, up from 5.0% in September. It is the fastest pace since June 2022, according to data released on 9 November by China's National Bureau of Statistics (NBS). Consumer goods, however, are leaving the factory at flat or falling prices.

China factory gate prices: the October data

The producer price index, or PPI, tracks the prices at which Chinese industrial companies sell their products at the factory gate, on the domestic market and in yuan. In October the year-on-year rise accelerated, while the month-on-month increase slowed after September's jump. The prices factories pay for energy, raw materials and semi-finished goods keep rising faster than the prices they sell at.

The key figures, confirmed by more than one source:

• Producer prices (PPI): +5.7% in October compared with October 2025, up from +5.0% in September.
• Change on the previous month: +0.7% between September and October, after +1.2% in September.
• Purchase prices of industrial companies: +7.9% year on year in October, +1.1% on the month.
• Average for the first ten months of 2026: producer prices +2.7%, purchase prices +4.0% year on year.
• Producer prices of consumer goods: -0.1% year on year, with clothing at -1.3% and everyday goods at -0.7%.

Energy and chemicals push up, consumer goods do not

The increase is concentrated upstream. According to the NBS, compared with September six energy-related industries, from oil and gas extraction to refining and basic organic chemicals, account for more than 80% of the monthly rise in the index, driven by international energy prices and fuel demand ahead of winter. Year on year, selling prices rise 36.6% for coal, 35.0% for oil and gas and 16.4% for chemical products.

The same imbalance shows in factories' purchase costs: fuel and power +18.6% year on year, chemical raw materials +16.8%, non-ferrous metals and wires +16.7%, textile raw materials +5.3%. Building materials (-1.9%) and ferrous metals (-1.1%) move the other way.

Further downstream the picture changes. Capital and intermediate goods, which the NBS calls means of production, rise 7.4% year on year, but consumer goods stand at -0.1%: food -1.6%, clothing -1.3%, everyday goods -0.7%, while durable goods are at +1.4%. Among industrial sectors, computers, communication equipment and electronics record +5.9%.

What the index measures and what it does not say

The PPI is not an export price index: it measures yuan prices on the Chinese market, and a supplier selling abroad also sets its price list based on the exchange rate, competition and export tax rebates. The figure therefore does not show that prices paid by European importers have risen by 5.7%.

It does point to a squeeze. Consumer goods factories buy energy, plastics, fibres and metals at sharply higher prices and sell finished products at flat prices. That is a setting in which margins narrow and in which it is worth expecting requests for price adjustments, especially from makers of items with a lot of plastic, resins, electronic components or metal parts. Chinese consumer prices, up only 0.7% year on year in October, suggest that domestic demand remains weak and that the pressure comes from costs, not from spending.

What it means for importers

For anyone buying consumer goods, promotional products or components in China, the October data suggests telling apart the price increase requests that will arrive with year-end and first-quarter 2027 orders.

First, the cost breakdown. A request justified by the 16.8% rise in chemical raw materials weighs differently on a plastic water bottle and on a cotton T-shirt: asking how much resins, metals and energy account for in the unit price makes it possible to judge whether the increase is proportionate.

Second, prices already agreed. It is worth confirming in writing the price lists of current orders, with the quotation validity date, before suppliers update their offers.

Third, comparing categories. Where factory selling prices are falling, as in clothing, there is more room to negotiate; where they are rising, as in electronics, it makes sense to bring purchases forward or set an adjustment mechanism linked to a public index.

With La Merce, importers from China check every price increase request against the 7.9% rise in factory purchase costs and the -0.1% for consumer goods, and lock in prices for first-quarter 2027 orders in good time.

Let's talk about your productprojectconceptgoalbrandproductprojectconceptgoalbrandproductprojectconceptgoalbrandproduct