China Factory Inflation at Fastest Since 2008 on Commodity Boom

Surging commodity costs drove China’s factory-gate inflation to its highest level since 2008 in May, further adding to global price pressures.

The producer price index climbed 9% from a year earlier, following a 6.8% gain in April, the National Bureau of Statistics said Wednesday. The median forecast in a Bloomberg survey of economists was for a 8.5% increase. Consumer prices increased 1.3% from a year ago, missing an estimate of 1.6%.

Commodity prices have rallied this year as the global recovery strengthened, pandemic-induced supply shortages persisted, and governments around the world …