BEIJING — The overall average price of commodities in China shrank by 2 percent in August from the previous month and by 6 percent from the same period last year, according to the China Logistics Information Center.

The average price in the January-August period went down 2.7 percent from the same period last year. The decline was 0.6 percentage points larger than that in January-July.

According to the center, the downward pressure of the domestic economy was obvious and the commodity market continued to be depressed in August.

The market demand failed to meet expectations, influenced by high temperatures, rain and typhoons, and the real estate regulation policy showed a tightening trend, which further restrained demand, it said.

The market supply is still increasing and the pressure on commodities continues to rise, leading to a renewed decline in commodity market prices.

From an industrial perspective, the five major industries monitored reported drops in prices. Among them, the prices of chemical products and ferrous metals fell the most in August from the previous month, by 4.2 percent and 3.6 percent, respectively.

In addition, the prices of refined oil shrank by 1.9 percent, raw coal dropped by 0.9 percent and nonferrous metals fell by 0.4 percent in August from the previous month.