The China Ag Price Index tracks national average prices for a basket of important food commodities, including grains, vegetable oils, fresh produce, and proteins. The index, which updates daily, is based on consumer spending and includes high-frequency local cash price data. Government data on monthly inflation is typically reported in the following month. Gro’s inflation data is available up to six weeks ahead of a government inflation report.
Customers Use this Index to
Why It Matters
China is the world’s biggest importing country of agricultural products. Its food prices constitute about one-third of the weightings in the official Consumer Price Index (CPI). Understanding food inflation is especially important because food accounts for a large share of total household expenditures. The Gro China Ag Price Index can be customized and weighted for Gro users to reflect their particular commodities of interest. Gro developed its series of Ag Price Indices in response to the unprecedented global supply chain disruptions and commodity price volatility caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. The Ag Price Indices fill a significant market deficiency by providing real-time analysis of inflation trends ahead of government-reported indicators.
Methodology
Each Ag Price Index is built on the Gro Platform by combining hundreds of thousands of unique price series at the national, regional, and local levels (e.g., cities, processing facilities, grain elevators, and ports). We aggregate this price data using a basket that represents the food consumption expenditures within the economy.
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