TOKYO, Nov. 12 (Xinhua) -- Japan's wholesale prices climbed 7.1 percent in October from a year earlier, preliminary data from the Bank of Japan (BOJ) showed Thursday.
The pace of increase in prices of goods traded between companies picked up from 6.8 percent in September.
Higher crude oil prices and price revisions tied to the quarterly and semiannual adjustments in October were the main factors behind the faster rise, a BOJ official said.
Import prices jumped 24.8 percent in October from the previous year, while export prices rose 16.7 percent.
Nearly all commodity categories posted year-on-year price gains. Prices of nonferrous metals surged 31.7 percent, while those of petroleum and coal products, and information and communications equipment each increased 15.9 percent, reflecting higher crude oil prices and robust demand linked to artificial intelligence, respectively.
Prices of chemicals and related products climbed 15.5 percent on the back of higher naphtha prices.
The only category to post a year-on-year price drop was agricultural, forestry and fishery products, which fell 25.0 percent, partly because swelling rice inventories pushed prices down.
Of the 515 items surveyed, prices rose for 469 and fell for 35. "Moves to pass higher raw material costs on to prices are continuing," the BOJ official said.
The corporate goods price index is seen as a leading indicator of the consumer price index. The data came as the BOJ weighs the timing of its next interest rate hike, with its next monetary policy meeting scheduled for Dec. 17 to 18. ■