Canadian industrial product and raw material price indexes

Canadian industrial product and raw material price indexes

Statistics Canada posted industrial product and raw material price indexes for January 2005. The prices of ex-factory manufactured goods continued to increase in January 2005, as did the cost of raw materials. The high price of oil was the main contributor to the rising cost of raw materials. The Industrial Product Price Index (IPPI) of manufactured products increased 0.5% to 108.8 in January 2005. Higher prices for petroleum products, primary metals, pulp and paper products as well as lumber products were the main source of the monthly increase. The 12 month change in the IPPI came out to 3.2% The IPPI of primary metal products was 102.8 in January 2004, while it was 117.5 in January 2005. The IPPI for metal fabricated products was 108.6 in January 2004, and 120.4 in January 2005. Metal fabricated product prices increased 10.9% as the cost of raw material remained high. On the other hand, the prices for motor vehicles and other transport equipment decreased 3.8% from a year ago. The Raw Materials Price Index (RMPI) rose 4.5% from December to January to reach 131.5. It had decreased 4.6% in December 2004. The RMPI for ferrous metals was 111.6 in January 2004, while it was 119.6 in January 2005. The price of ferrous materials decreased 0.8% from December as iron and steel scrap prices fell 1.4%. However, ferrous material prices finished up year-on-year. The value of the Canadian dollar fell 0.5% against the US dollar in January. On a 12-month basis, however, the value of the Canadian dollar rose 5.8% against the US dollar.