BEIJING — China’s producer price index (PPI), which measures costs for goods at the factory gate, rose 4.6 percent year-on-year in July, the National Bureau of Statistics said on Aug 9.

The July growth slowed slightly compared with the 4.7-percent rise in June.

NBS statistician Sheng Guoqing said the carryover effect accounted for 3.9 percentage points in the PPI growth.

On a month-on-month basis, producer prices went up 0.1 percent in July, according to the NBS.

Factory prices of production materials grew 6 percent year-on-year, contributing 4.5 percentage points to the overall PPI growth. Those of consumer goods climbed 0.6 percent year-on-year.

Of all industrial sectors, producer prices in oil and natural gas exploration surged 42.1 percent year-on-year, 9.4 percentage points faster than the previous month. Oil, coal and other fuel processing posted a 24.6-percent increase in producer prices.

Ferrous and nonferrous metal smelting and pressing saw slower producer price growth.

The NBS data also showed that China’s consumer price index, a main gauge of inflation, rose 2.1 percent year-on-year in July.