Prices of major food may continue to rise

In December 2007, prices of 46 kinds of major commodities including refined grain, pork and other food rose in China's 36 large and medium cities, according to a report issued by the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC).

Prices of 24 kinds of major food including refined grain, edible oil and pork rose slightly last December compared with the previous month. Among them, the price of edible vegetable continued to maintain upward trend and the average prices of rapeseed oil, soybean oil and peanut oil rose by 4.3%, 5% and 8% respectively. Particularly, due to price hike in the international dairy market, milk prices rose significantly by 7.1%.

The average retail price of pork was RMB 28.18 per kg last week, up 0.93 over the previous week. The prices of beef and lamb went up 3.1% and 1.11% respectively to stand at RMB 29.28 and RMB 31.02 per kg, while chicken and egg prices declined slightly.