Recent hikes in vegetable prices are due to seasonal fluctuations and are not the result of flooding at a major vegetable growing region in eastern China, the country’s Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs said on Tuesday.

The statement was issued to address the rising vegetable prices and comes at a time when inflation in China has moved somewhat higher over the past two months. Inflation concerns at the same time as general economic dislocations because of the trade dispute with the United States are likely to worry the central government.

The flooding in the city of Shouguang in the eastern province of Shandong will not push up national vegetable prices significantly, as output there is small during the summer, the statement said.

The region around the city produces about 0.5 percent of China’s vegetables, according to Reuters calculations, based on output data from the National Bureau of Statistics and the Shouguang Statistics Bureau.

The average wholesale prices of 28 vegetables, including carrots, spinach and eggplants, among others, were at 4.19 yuan ($0.61) per kilogram last week, up 11.7 percent from the first week of August.

Vegetable prices are expected to stabilize and fall later this year as supplies will recover. But prices of eggplants and peppers might rise in late September and early October, as the Shouguang flooding impacted greenhouses wher the two plants are grown.

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