Vegetables at various Metro Manila markets indicated price increases this week. However, wholesale trading at Divisoria and Cloverleaf exhibited mixed price movements

Temperate vegetables like habitchuelas and chayote cleared bulk sale at higher prices compared to last week’s levels. Mark ups were P2 per kilogram for habitchuelas and P1.40 for chayote.

These price hikes were, however, not reflected at retail trading. Retailers maintained old quotations. An exception was pechay Baguio (wongbok), which wholesalers offered at lower price. It was down by P9 per kilogram from last week’s price of P23.

Pechay Baguio was traded at retail at P10 per kilogram less than previous week’s tag of P50 per kilogram.

For tropical vegetables, tomato posted an increment of 41 percent at bulk sales and 25 percent higher at retail from last week’s prices.

Eggplant and ampalaya showed similar price trend at wholesale and retail outlets.

Fruit stalls were sufficiently filled with both locally grown and imported ones. Prices of bananas (lakatan, latundan and saba) remained stable. Deliveries from producing province of Isabela, Mindoro and Batangas amply met market requirements. Lakatan from Davao was also noted at Mega-Q-Mart wholesale market.

Summer fruits such as muskmelons and watermelon which were considered out of season, remained available to Metro consumers.

However, retail prices of mango remained high. Its prevailing price posted a 25 percent increase from last week’s P80 per kilogram.

At fish counters, indicator fishery items were priced at previous week’s quotations except for a P20 kilogram increase in the prevailing tag of lapu-lapu (grouper).

Stockpiles of commercial rice were notably high which kept retail prices stable. Prices per kilogram of well milled and regular milled rice still prevailed at P35 and P30, respectively.

Prices of chicken, meat products and cooking oil were generally stable.

However, both refined and brown sugar prices were higher by P2 per kilogram during the reference period.