Economy

China's vegetable, egg prices drop: ministry

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2011-04-13 21:48

BEIJING- Increasing supplies have significantly cooled prices of vegetables and eggs in the Chinese market, a report from the Ministry of Commerce (MOC) showed Wednesday.

Related readings: China's March CPI to hit 5.2%: Survey  China's March CPI rise may exceed 5%  CPI likely to drop in February: NDRC

In the week ending April 10, egg prices in China had fallen 0.2 percent from the previous week, registering a 6.1 percent decline from two months ago, said the MOC report.

The wholesale prices of 18 staple vegetables dropped 4.6 percent on average last week. The decline was 2 percentage points greater than the previous week's level, said the report.

The price of peanut oil was down 0.1 percent from one week ago, while the prices of soybean and rapeseed oils remained stable.

Pork prices dipped 0.1 percent, but prices of mutton and beef were up 0.7 percent and 0.3 percent, respectively, the report showed.

However, the prices of rice and flour climbed 0.4 percent and 0.2 percent, respectively, from the previous week.

China's consumer price index (CPI), a major gauge of inflation, jumped 4.9 percent in February year on year, exceeding the government's full-year target of 4 percent.

The CPI data for March is scheduled to be released later this week and is estimated to show a rise above 5 percent.