China's farm produce prices slightly up last week

China's prices for most farm produce continued to rise in the week ending Oct. 9, while that of pork remained flat compared to the previous week, the Ministry of Commerce (MOC) said in a report unveiled Tuesday. Supply shrinking due to the lower temperature in late summer, the average wholesale prices of 18 staple vegetables went up 1.7 percent, with chili peppers rising the most by 11.5 percent from the previous week. The prices of mutton, beef and chicken rose 0.5 percent, 0.3 percent and 0.2 percent, respectively, week-on-week, according to the report. Compared to the previous week, the retail prices of rice and flour climbed 0.2 percent, and the prices of colza oil and soybean oil rose slightly by 0.1 percent. Due to a larger supply, the retail prices of eggs dipped 0.3 percent from last week, down 0.5 percent compared to the end of September, and the wholesale prices of eight aquatic products fell by 1.1 percent week-on-week. Food prices account for about one third in the calculation of China's consumer price index (CPI), a major gauge of inflation, which hit 6.2 percent in August. The National Bureau of Statistics will release the September CPI on Oct.14. Many institutions anticipate the figure will remain over 6 percent.