Extreme price decrease by cereals

In November 2008 the producer price level of agricultural products was 22.3% lower than in the corresponding period of the previous year. More specifically, the price level of crops and horticultural products decreased by 39.6%, while that of live animals

 The producer price level of
agricultural products diminished by 1.2% in the period of
January–November 2008 compared to the first eleven months of the
previous year as a result of the price decrease of crops and
horticultural products by 13% and the price increase of live animals
and animal products by 14.8%.

In November 2008 the producer prices of
cereals fell by 46% compared to the same month of the previous year.
The average procurement price of wheat was 32 HUF/kg this month –
it fell to 37.5 HUF/kg in July at the beginning of the harvest season
after the permanent high price level in the first half of the year.
Meanwhile the price of maize, which was 35.5 HUF/kg back in August
declined to 24.3 HUF/kg by November. It is worth noting that a
significant portion of maize sales takes place in October and
November.

The producer price of oil seeds
decreased by 13.4% compared to November of the previous year, within
which the average price of sunflower seed equalled only 79.7 HUF/kg
in November compared to a price level of more than 100 HUF/kg during
the summer.

The producer prices of potatoes went
down by 27.9% compared to the same month of the previous year. In the
eleventh month of 2008 the producer prices of fresh vegetables
decreased by 5.5% compared to November 2007. Among the products
having the most significant weight the prices of carrots declined
only to a minor extent, by 0.3%, while sweet pepper prices decreased
to a higher extent, by 7.6% in this period.

The producer price fall of fruits
(62.3%) in this month was mainly influenced by two products. One of
them was apples; their prices dropped by 79.4% compared to November
2007 as a consequence of the considerable increase in the volume of
procurement. (The procurement price of apples was 11.8 HUF/kg in
November, which was dominantly influenced by the price trend of
products to be processed in industry.) The other product having
significant weight was wine grapes. Their producer price went down by
30.4% compared to the corresponding period of the previous year.

The producer price increase of live
animals (11.1%) stemmed from the price rise of pigs for slaughter by
25.1%, and significantly lower price increases of poultry for
slaughter and cattle for slaughter (0.2% and 0.9%, respectively).
Within the 6.1% price decrease of animal products the producer price
of fresh eggs went up by 2.4%, while that of milk dropped by 9.5%
compared to November 2007. The procurement price of milk declined
from its peak of January (96.5 HUF/l) to 74.9 HUF/l in November.

In January–November 2008 the average
producer price of cereals was 20.8% lower than in the same period of
the previous year. In the first eleven months of the year the price
level of industrial crops exceeded that measured in the period of
January–November 2007 by 10.2%. The prices of potatoes decreased by
13.6% in the same period. Fresh vegetable prices went up by 8.8%,
while fruit prices fell by 25% as measured against the corresponding
period of 2007.

The producer prices of live animals
were 14.5% higher than in January–November 2007. A significant
price increase could be observed in case of poultry for slaughter
(15.7%) and pigs for slaughter (16.7%), while prices of cattle for
slaughter rose only to a lower extent (2.4%). Compared to the first
eleven months of the previous year the average producer price level
of animal products rose by 15.3%; more specifically, the producer
prices of milk and fresh eggs rose by 16.3% and 14%, respectively.