Hungary farm gate price rise slows to 12.4% in August

Farm gate prices in Hungary rose 12.4% yr/yr in August, slowing from a 24.9% increase in July, the Central Statistics Office (KSH) said on Monday.

August crop prices were 12.4% higher than twelve months earlier, and livestock and animal products prices were up 12.1%, with crop prices rising less and animal product prices rising slightly more than the respective increases registered in July.

The slower rise of crop prices was helped by a 42.7% yr/yr drop in potato prices and a 14.0% decline in vegetable prices, both following sharp yr/yr increases in July 2010.

Farm gate prices fell year-on-year until June 2010 before starting to rise at a double-digit pace in July 2010.

In a breakdown by crop type, farm gate prices of cereals, including seeds, were 21.6% higher in August than a year earlier. The increase was moderate compared to rises in the previous months, when prices more than doubled in February and March and price rises ranged between 76.8% and 87.6% in April-June.

Prices of industrial crops were up 18.9%, including a 30.5% rise in oil seed prices, both increase slowing down from the previous month, while potato prices fell 42.7% after dropping 30.9% in July. Up to May, potato prices were well over their level one year earlier.

Fruit prices rose 18.3%, picking up from a 16.2% increase in July. Prices of fresh vegetables were down 14.0% yr/yr in August after falling 25.5% in July, dropping for the fourth month in a row.

Among livestock and animal product prices, prices of live animals rose more than in the previous month. The price of cattle for slaughter rose 37.3% in the twelve months to August, the price of live hogs increased 2.4%, and poultry prices were up 18.7%. Milk prices climbed 18.3%, the price increase picking up slightly from July. Fresh egg prices dropped 3.9% yr/yr, falling less than the 4.9% registered in July.

January-August farm gate prices were up 30.9% yr/yr, as crop prices rose 40.6% and livestock and animal products prices rose 14.4% in the period.