War and AI Demand Break China’s Record of Falling Export Prices

China’s export prices jumped at their fastest rate in three years, as a global surge in energy costs and an AI boom broke a long streak of falling prices.

Official datareleased Thursday showed overall export prices rose 5% in April from a year ago, the biggest gain since April 2023 and a reversal from years of almost unbroken contraction.

The increases were concentrated in global commodities like crude oil, metals and semiconductors. These goods rallied worldwide as the war in Iran triggered an energy crisis and massive corporate investments in AI prompted global supply scrambles. ...