Chinese induatrial production falls but the NBS say the employment situation has improved
Beijing (Jun 16) Chinese Industrial Production year on year fell to hit 8.8% for the month of May vs analyst consensus estimates of 9.0% and previous reading of 9.8%. As the nation comes out of the COVID-19 pandemic these numbers will be suffering from a basing effect as it seems that the nation recovered a lot quicker than others. There have also been infection spikes in some areas which means there have been localized lockdowns.
China's National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said "There are still unstable., uncertain factors in global economic recovery and COVID-19 control. Foundation for domestic economic recovery is not yet consolidated.". In addition to this comment, the NBS said "China still sees pressure on downstream firms from high prices upstream". On the plus side, the NBS said the overall employment situation improved, and employment pressure still exists. Lastly the NBS added "China's consumption recovery trend is continuing" this will be music to the ears for some of the world's top manufacturers.
This is a very hot topic at the moment as just overnight it was noted that China will release its national reserves of copper, aluminium, and zinc in batches in the near term. There have been some near term weakness in base metals following the announcement but some analysts have noted that some of this news has been priced into the markets and the weakness could be short term.
Reuters
