China data deluge: April

Amongst the activity and monetary data for April, there were some change in trends, although many some of the key pieces of data maintained the status quo of the first 3 months of 2013.  Social finance fell into the latter category, recording a ridiculous 82%YoY gain in the month.

As I've discussed in this post, the explosion in financing seems to be a much bigger issue that the balance between growth and inflation.  Some still looking at these variables believe policy may be loosened, but that seems crazy given the explosion in credit.

Housing activity was a bit mixed.  Sales remain incredibly strong, but construction wasn't, with the 3mma dipping a little.

This is problematic for steel producers, who have been producing at strong rates to meet an expected pick up.  The NBS is yet to release the crude steel numbers for April, although the CISA data suggests it should show some YoY growth.

Industrial production was a little stronger in April, but what was more interesting was the pick up in power generation to 6.1%YoY, up strongly from 2.1%YoY in March.

I suspect the pick up is at least partly driven by stronger hydro generation, as high frequency coal burn stats were not inspiring in April.

Finally, auto production and sales continue to grow at a healthy rate, but what was most interesting was the return of stronger commercial vehicle sales, up 15%YoY.

This might be a sign that growth is broadening a little, which would be a welcome sign for policy makers.  That said, we are still below 2011 levels, so there is still some way to go for this sector.