China’s farm produce prices edge down

17 january 2013

BEIJING — Farm produce prices in 36 large and medium-sized cities in China fell due to a large amount of supplies, the Ministry of Commerce said Tuesday.

Last week, the wholesale price of 18 types of vegetables dropped 5.5 percent from a week earlier, according to the ministry.

Prices of cabbages, radishes and lettuces declined 19 percent, 14.1 percent and 12.2 percent, respectively.

The retail price of eggs dropped 0.7 percent, down for the first time since July, the MOC said.

Wholesale prices of eight kinds of aquatic products fell slightly, and retail prices of cooking oils saw slight fluctuations.

The wholesale price of pork remained steady, while prices of mutton and beef went up slightly week-on-week.

Food prices account for 30.49 percent of the weighting in the nation’s calculation of the consumer price index, the key gauge of inflation.

The CPI rose 1.9 percent year-on-year in September, easing from 2 percent in August, according to the country’s statistics authority.