The price of tomato (cooking) in both wholesale and retail trading dropped significantly in the Agbogbloshie and Kumasi Central markets in the week ended December 10. In the Agbogbloshie market, the wholesale price went down by 26 per cent, dropping from GHC2.30 a kilo the previous week to GHC1.70 a kilo in the week ended December 10. The retail trading price dropped by 24 per cent, with the price of the commodity closing the week at GHC1.90 a kilo from the previous week’s closing of GHC2.50 a kilo. In the Kumasi Central Market, the wholesale trading price of tomato dropped by 38 per cent, from GHC1.25 a kilo to GHC 0.77 kilo, whereas in the same market, the retail price dropped by 36 per cent, from GHC1.43 a kilo the previous week to GHC0.91 a kilo. The average price of the commodity in the seven key markets used in the calculation of the Esoko Ghana Commodity Index, at both retail and wholesale level was as follows: retail average dropped from GHC1.73 a kilo the previous week, to GHC1.60 in the week ended December 10, whereas the wholesale average price closed the week at GHC1.25 a kilo, from the previous week’s closing of GHC1.46 a kilo. Overall, the price of tomatoes has remained one of the most volatile commodities in the last quarter of the year. Early arrivals of the produce caused a scare some few months back, when some farmers in the north of the Volta Region were shocked by the price slump when their produce arrived on the market. Since then, the price has been fairly unstable, registering severe swings. Esoko market watchers have attributed this price pattern to a “significant change in market dynamics, where traders are moving their produce around markets fairly quickly to take advantage of the mispricing in different markets”. Also, the price of maize (white, grain) registered significant increases in both wholesale and retail trading in the Agbogbloshie market in the week ended December 10. The price increased by 25 per cent, moving from GHC0.40 to GHC 0.50 in wholesale trading and 20 per cent, moving from GHC0.50 to GHC0.60 in retail trading. Prices remained largely flat in maize trading for the remaining markets, with the average price inching up from GHC0.50 a kilo the previous week (retail) to GHC0.52 a kilo in the week. In the wholesale market, the price increased from GHC0.41 the previous week to GHC0.43 in the week ended December 10. Generally, the price of most of the other commodities remained largely flat in the remaining markets, with the composite Esoko Commodity Index-Retail dropping from 2729 points last week to 2585 points in the week ended December 10, and the Wholesale index dropping from 1223 points last week, to 1138 points in the week under review. Source: Esoko