Farm produce prices rise for 4th straight week

Consumers pick vegetables at a supermarket in Xuchang, Henan province on Nov 17,2012.Prices of farm produce in China inched up for the fourth straight week during the seven days ending Nov 25.[Asianewsphoto/Geng Guoqing]

BEIJING - Prices of farm produce in China inched up for the fourth straight week during the seven days ending Nov 25, according to figures released by the Ministry of Commerce on Tuesday.

The wholesale cost of 18 types of vegetables monitored across 36 major cities gained 3.4 percent from the previous week, the ministry said.

The retail price of eggs went up 0.2 percent week on week. The wholesale price of pork, a staple meat in China, rose 0.5 percent 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 percent. Prices of soy oil and rapeseed oil both edged up by 0.1 percent from the previous week. The cost of flour was unchanged, the ministry noted.

Prices of major production fluctuated mildly, with mineral and chemical products recording lower costs, while nonferrous metals and rubber saw prices rise, it said.

Meanwhile, eight staple aquatic products reported a 0.5-percent 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 percent year-on-year in October, the slowest pace since January 2010.