China's factory inflation at 13-year high adds to global pressures

Surging costs of imported commodities drove China’s factory-gate inflation to its highest level since 2008, raising the odds that exporters will begin passing on higher prices and boost inflationary pressures in the global economy.

The producer price index climbed 9% in May from a year earlier, driven by price increases for oil, metals and chemicals, the National Bureau of Statistics said Wednesday. The median forecast in a Bloomberg survey of economists was for an 8.5% increase. Consumer inflation increased only 1.3% from a year ago, missing an estimate of 1.6% and suggesting retailers aren’t hiking prices yet due to sluggish domestic