Prices for products sold by Canadian manufacturers, as measured by the Industrial Product Price Index (IPPI), rose 0.3% in January, 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), increased 3.3%, primarily as a result of higher prices for crude energy products.
The IPPI rose 0.3% in January, after edging down 0.1% the previous month. Of the 21 major commodity groups, 7 were up, 10 were down and 4 were unchanged.
Prices for energy and petroleum products (+3.4%) were largely responsible for the increase in the IPPI in January. The increase in this product group was mainly due to higher prices for motor gasoline (+3.8%), diesel fuel (+4.6%) and light fuel oils (+3.8%). The IPPI excluding energy and petroleum products edged down 0.1%.
Primary non-ferrous metal products (+1.0%) and meat, fish and dairy products (+0.9%) also contributed to the increase in the IPPI in January, but to a lesser extent.