2011-06-21 14:30

BEIJING -- Prices for Chinese farm produce gained slightly last week, the Ministry of Commerce (MOC) said on Tuesday.

During the week June 13 - 19, meat prices rose from the previous week with pork up 4.8 percent, beef up 0.6 percent, chicken up 0.5 percent and mutton up 0.4 percent.

Prices of eight aquatic products rose 1.2 percent mostly due to higher costs for transportation in summer.

Prices of flour and rice both climbed 0.2 percent from the previous week. Egg prices gained 0.8 percent week-on-week, but the growth rate was down 0.7 percentage points.

The prices of 18 staple vegetables dropped 1.9 percent for the fourth week running due to plentiful supply.

Producer goods including minerals, construction materials and rubber gained with minerals up 0.6 percent, construction materials up 0.3 percent and rubber up 0.1 percent. Prices of chemical products, non-ferrous metals and steel fell.

Food prices have a key weighting in the calculation of the consumer price index (CPI), a major gauge of inflation, which hit a 34-month high of 5.5 percent year-on-year in May.