A worker checks the quality of steel plates at a factory in Taizhou, East China's Jiangsu Province on Monday. Data from the National Bureau of Statistics showed that in the first two months of 2021, China's total value added of industrial enterprises above designated size grew by 35.1 percent year-on-year. Photo: cnsphoto

A senior Chinese official said on Monday that effective measures should be taken to strengthen the regulation of the raw material market in response to the mounting pressure on downstream industries caused by surging international bulk commodity prices. 

The increase in international commodity prices will push up the price of raw materials, which may add pressure to the production and operation of some downstream enterprises, Fu Linghui, spokesperson of National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), said at a press conference.

Fu did not elaborate on the specific measures but added that the relatively large price increase of international bulk commodities has impacted the domestic producer price index (PPI). 

Impact of rising PPI may be conduvice for enterprises to improve corporate efficiency, but effective measures should be taken to strengthen the regulation of the raw material market to promote a stable and sound development of downstream enterprises, Fu noted. 

Rising international bulk commodity prices are caused by the global economic recovery, tightening international raw material production and supply as well as constrained global transport capacity - combined with loose monetary policies implemented by some major developed economies, which have raised concerns over global inflation and higher commodity prices, according to Fu.

Chinese officials have already taken measures to curb surging prices for certain materials such as steel. Steel prices in China have pulled back significantly in recent days after Chinese authorities launched a new round of measures against soaring prices in a bid to ease the cost pressures on downstream industries like electronics producers since Friday. 

Global Times