Red-hot price of chili begins to drop

JAKARTA: The price of chili, a staple ingredient in Indonesian cuisine, began to drop after skyrocketing in the past few weeks, the Jakarta administration said.
Hasan Basri Saleh, the administration’s regional secretary assistant for economic and administrative affairs, said wholesale prices for chili decreased between 5 and 20 percent, pushing the price of the spicy commodity down 2 to 10 percent at municipal markets.
“There was lower demand for chili in the second week of January,” he said.
The price of chili had increased drastically since the middle of December, hovering between Rp 80,000 (US$9) and Rp 100,000 per kilogram — five times the normal price.
The price hike has been blamed on a prolonged rainy season in many parts of the country and eruptions of Mount Merapi in Yogyakarta.

(Source: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2011/01/21/redhot-price-chili-begins-drop.html)