BEIJING - Farm produce prices rose for a seventh consecutive week last week, pushed up by cold weather, rising logistics costs and strong demand, the Ministry of Commerce said Tuesday.

The wholesale prices of 18 staple vegetables rose 7.5 percent week-on-week, and were up 40 percent cumulatively from mid-November, the ministry said in a statement on its website.

Meat prices rose due to brisk demand. Prices of pork, mutton and beef were up 0.6 percent, 0.6 percent and 0.2 percent, respectively. Chicken prices went up 0.1 percent.

Prices of edible oil and aquatic products also gained slightly last week. But egg prices fell 0.1 percent from one week earlier, the statement said.

Food prices have a one-third weighting in the calculation of China's consumer price index (CPI), a major gauge of inflation. The CPI eased to 4.2 percent in November, the slowest rise in 14 months.