Japan Wholesale Prices: Ideas Later.

Japan wholesale prices up 7.2% in July amid Middle East tensions, AI demand

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TOKYO (Kyodo) -- Japan's wholesale prices in July rose 7.2 percent from a year earlier, the Bank of Japan said Thursday, led by increases in electric power, gas and water, reflecting higher crude oil prices amid escalating tensions in the Middle East and strong artificial intelligence-related demand.

The growth in prices of goods traded between companies slowed for the first time in five months, decelerating from an upwardly revised 7.3 percent in June, the biggest rise since March 2023.

The data came as the BOJ is assessing the right timing for raising its key policy interest rate to sustainably achieve its 2 percent inflation target. Following a hike in June to a 31-year-high of 1.00 percent, some market analysts are anticipating another rate increase at the central bank's next policy meeting in September.

Speculation about a faster pace of rate hikes has been fueled since Japanese and U.S. monetary authorities recently conducted a joint yen-buying intervention, showing their strong determination to stem the yen's weakness.

Electric power, gas and water prices rose 6.3 percent from a year earlier due partly to a fuel cost adjustment system that passes fluctuations in fuel costs on to electricity rates with a time lag.

Prices for petroleum and coal products, including naphtha, a raw ingredient of chemicals used to make plastics and packaging materials, climbed 17.5 percent from the previous year, slowing from a 22.8 percent increase in June.

Although prices have risen amid the U.S.-Israeli conflict with Iran, the slowdown in growth reflected a decline in crude oil prices in June and was just a one-month movement in July, a BOJ official said, adding that prices remained at a relatively high level compared with a year earlier.

Chemicals and related product prices grew 12.9 percent from a year earlier, while nonferrous metals increased 40.6 percent.

Amid strong AI demand, which has boosted prices for semiconductor memory used in computers, electrical machinery and equipment rose 4.6 percent, while information and communications equipment climbed 17.3 percent.

Import prices surged 29.1 percent from the previous year and export prices jumped 18.9 percent, with the BOJ official saying both appeared to be particularly affected by AI-related demand.

Article source:  https://mainichi.jp/english/articles/20260813/p2g/00m/0bu/024000c