Japan Producer Prices Up for 22 Months in Row

November 12, 2018

Tokyo--Japan's producer price index for October rose 2.9 pct from a year before, up for the 22nd straight month, on the back of higher crude oil prices, a Bank of Japan report showed on Monday.

The index stood at 102.3 against 100 for the base year of 2015, according to the central bank.

The year-on-year growth was smaller than the 3.0 pct in September.

Prices of petroleum and coal products jumped 25.5 pct as crude oil prices went up amid supply concerns stoked by the United States' economic sanctions on Iran.

Scrap and waste prices increased 12.3 pct, and iron and steel prices 4.7 pct, led by robust construction demand and automobile production at home.

Meanwhile, nonferrous metal prices dropped 3.0 pct, and prices of information and communications equipment inched down 0.9 pct.

"It's difficult to predict the course of crude oil prices due to the U.S. sanctions on Tehran," an official of the BOJ's Research and Statistics Department said.

The official also pointed to the possibility of U.S.-China trade friction pushing down the global economy and dampening demand. Jiji Press