According to a recent report by Statistics Canada (StatCan), prices for products manufactured in Canada, as measured by the Industrial Product Price Index (IPPI), declined 0.3% month over month in August, but were up 14.3% from August 2020.
StatCan reported that of the 21 major commodity groups, 16 were up and 5 were down. The decrease in the IPPI was mainly attributable to lower prices for lumber and other wood products (-14.2%).
Prices for primary non-ferrous metal products (-0.6%) also decreased from July, mainly because of lower prices for unwrought gold, silver and platinum group metals, and their alloys (-4.1%), which were down for a third consecutive month.
On the other hand, StatCan said that in the primary ferrous metal products group, growth was mainly due to higher prices for basic and semi-finished iron or steel products (+3.7%). Steel prices have been affected by continued high demand, limited supply and—more recently—the implementation, by China, of measures to limit production in order to meet its carbon emission targets, the authors of the report noted.
The IPPI was up 14.3% year over year in August, StatCan added, following a 15.7% increase in July. Prices for refined petroleum energy products (including liquid biofuels; +50.1%), basic and semi-finished iron or steel products (+66.6%), and petrochemicals (+84.3%) were the primary contributors to this growth.