According to Statistics Canada, prices for products manufactured in Canada, as measured by the Industrial Product Price Index (IPPI), rose 1.6 percent month over month in April and 14.3 percent compared with April 2020. Prices of raw materials purchased by manufacturers operating in Canada, as measured by the Raw Materials Price Index (RMPI), increased 1.0 percent on a monthly basis in April and 56.4 percent compared with April 2020.
The IPPI (+1.6 percent) posted its fifth consecutive monthly increase in April. Excluding energy and petroleum products, the IPPI was up 1.8 percent. Of the 21 major commodity groups, 18 were up and 3 were down.
Primary ferrous metal product prices (+2.9 percent) rose for the eighth consecutive month in April, pulled upward by hot-rolled iron and steel products (+3.4 percent), and iron and steel pipes and tubes (except castings; +11.0 percent).
Year over year, the IPPI was up 14.3 percent, its ninth consecutive increase and the strongest gain since February 1980 (+15.3 percent). Prices for energy and petroleum products (+78.4 percent) led this increase. The increase in prices for energy and petroleum products was pronounced because it followed a sharp decline in prices observed in April 2020, which was mainly caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. Lumber and other wood products (+88.8 percent) and primary non-ferrous metal products (+30.0 percent) were also important factors in the IPPI's year-over-year increase.
The RMPI increased 1.0 percent in April, after posting a 2.2 percent gain in March. This was its seventh consecutive monthly gain. Of the six major commodity groups, five were up and one was down.
Year over year, the RMPI rose 56.4 percent, the largest increase since the start of this series in 1981. All six major commodity groups were up, compared with April 2020, but it was mostly crude energy products that pushed the RMPI upward.