The prices of Chinese farm produce edged higher last week, boosted by New Year holiday demand, the Ministry of Commerce said Wednesday.

Low temperatures and freezing rain in some parts of China also pushed up prices, the ministry said in a statement posted on its website.

During the week of Dec. 27 to Jan. 2, the wholesale prices of 18 staple vegetables rose, with the price of balsam pear, cucumber and beans up 8.2 percent, 6 percent and 3.7 percent, respectively.

The price of meat rose slightly, with pork prices up 0.8 percent. Mutton prices rose 0.8 percent and chicken prices rose 0.4 percent.

Peanut oil prices increased 0.3 percent while soybean oil prices rose 0.3 percent. Colza oil prices edged 0.2 percent higher.

Bucking the trend, the price of producer goods fell slightly last week, after rising for three consecutive weeks. The prices of iron ore and copper ore fell 1.1 percent and 0.5 percent, respectively.

Food prices have a one-third weighting in the calculation of China's consumer price index (CPI), the major gauge of inflation. China's CPI hit a 28-month high of 5.1 percent in the year to November.

(Xinhua News Agency January 6, 2011)