November 28, 2012

China's farm produce prices up for four straight weeks

China's prices of farm produce increased for the fourth straight week during the seven days ending November 25.

According to figures released by the Ministry of Commerce on Tuesday (Nov 27), the wholesale cost of 18 types of vegetables monitored across 36 major cities gained 3.4% from the previous week.

The retail price of eggs went up 0.2% on-week. The wholesale price of pork, a staple meat in China, rose 0.5% from a week earlier.

Wholesale prices of grain and oil rose slightly, with the cost of rice and peanut oil both inching up 0.2%. Prices of soyoil and rapeseed oil both edged up by 0.1% from the previous week. The cost of flour was unchanged, the ministry noted.

Meanwhile, eight staple aquatic products reported a 0.5% increase in wholesale prices from the previous week. The rise in farm produce prices is expected to push up inflation as food prices account for a third of the proportion when calculating the country's inflation figure. China's CPI grew 1.7% on-year in October, the slowest pace since January 2010.