According to Statistics Canada, prices for products sold by Canadian manufacturers, as measured by the Industrial Product Price Index (IPPI), declined 0.3 percent in January, driven primarily by lower 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, mainly due to higher prices for crude energy products.
The IPPI (-0.3 percent) was down for the third consecutive month in January, following a 0.8 percent decrease in December. Of the 21 major commodity groups, 12 were down, 8 were up and 1 was unchanged.
The IPPI rose 1.0 percent over the 12-month period ending in January, following a 2.0 percent increase in December. Higher prices for motorized and recreational vehicles and primary ferrous metal products were moderated primarily by lower prices for energy and petroleum products.
Prices for primary ferrous metal products (+14.5 percent), particularly iron and steel basic shapes (+17.4 percent) and wire and other rolled and drawn steel products (+23.1 percent), also drove up the IPPI.
The RMPI increased 3.8 percent in January, after posting an identical gain in December. Of the six major commodity groups, four were up and two were down.
The growth in the RMPI was mainly attributable to higher prices for crude energy products (+8.7 percent), primarily conventional crude oil prices, which were up 8.8 percent after a 10.8 percent increase in December. The RMPI excluding crude energy products edged up 0.1 percent.
The January growth in the RMPI was slightly moderated by lower prices for metal ores, concentrates and scrap (-0.7 percent).
Compared with the same month in 2018, the RMPI declined 5.5 percent in January, after posting a 5.8 percent decrease in December.
The decline in the RMPI compared with January 2018 was mainly driven by lower prices for crude energy products (-8.6 percent), especially conventional crude oil (-9.1 percent). The RMPI excluding crude energy products declined 2.9 percent.
Compared with the same month in 2018, prices for metal ores, concentrates and scrap (-4.4 percent) were down for the fourth consecutive month in January.