According to Statistics Canada, prices of products sold by Canadian manufacturers, as measured by the Industrial Product Price Index (IPPI), increased 1.0 percent in May, mainly due to higher prices for energy and petroleum products. Prices for raw materials purchased by Canadian manufacturers, as measured by the Raw Materials Price Index (RMPI), rose 3.8 percent, primarily due to higher prices for crude energy products.
The IPPI increased 1.0 percent following a 0.4 percent increase in April. This is the largest monthly increase since November 2017. Of the 21 major commodity groups, 17 were up, 1 was down and 3 were unchanged.
Prices for fabricated metal products and construction materials rose 1.9 percent from April to May. The largest contributor to the price increase in this commodity group was fabricated metal products (+2.7 percent), specifically, forged and stamped metal products (+6.3 percent). These increases were attributed to higher costs for inputs.
Prices for primary ferrous metal products increased 1.5 percent. The main contributor to this increase was wire and other rolled and drawn steel products (+3.2 percent). To a lesser extent, higher prices for iron and steel basic shapes (+1.2 percent), iron and steel pipes and tubes (+0.2 percent) and ferrous metal castings (0.1 percent) also contributed to the rise.
The IPPI rose 3.1 percent over the 12-month period ending in May, following a 2.3 percent increase in April.
The RMPI rose 3.8 percent in May, after increasing 0.8 percent in April. Of the six major commodity groups, four were up and two were down. Metal ores, concentrates and scrap decreased 0.4 percent.
The RMPI rose 15.1 percent over the 12-month period ending in May, following a 9.0 percent year-over-year increase in April. Higher prices for metal ores, concentrates and scrap (+5.8 percent) also contributed to the year-over-year increase in the RMPI.