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The Daily. Thursday, March 29, 2001
The annual rates of growth for both industrial and raw material prices continued to slow in February. This marks the third consecutive month of decelerating growth for the Industrial Product Price Index and the fourth for the Raw Materials Price Index.
Manufacturers' prices, as measured by the Industrial Product Price Index (IPPI), grew 2.6% between February 2000 and February 2001, the lowest rate since August 1999.
Stabilizing petroleum and coal product prices were partly responsible for this reduced momentum. For the first time in over a year, petroleum and coal product prices were not a predominant force behind the annual increase. If the impact of petroleum and coal product prices were excluded, the IPPI would have increased 2.0% instead of 2.6%. Petroleum and coal product prices were up 11.1% from February 2000, their smallest annual increase since May 1999.
Motor vehicle and paper and paper product prices provided the greatest upward price pressure, which was partly counterbalanced by falling lumber prices.
On a month-to-month basis, industrial prices gained ground in February (+0.5%) after having declined the two previous months. Prices for motor vehicles, primary metals, meat and petroleum products were the major factors behind this increase.
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Manufacturers paid 4.7% more for their raw materials in February compared with February 2000. This is down from 6.6% in January and remains well below the recent peak of 37.3% in February 2000.
In contrast with the IPPI, mineral fuel prices were responsible for most of the upward price pressure in the annual Raw Materials Price Index, accompanied by more modest animal and vegetable product price increases. If mineral fuels were excluded, the RMPI would have advanced 1.6% instead of 4.7% in February compared with February 2000. These advances were somewhat offset by falling non-ferrous metal and ferrous material prices.
On a monthly basis, mineral fuel, animal product and non-ferrous metal prices were the major contributors to the 1.5% rise in prices from January to February. Most of the downward price pressure came from the ferrous materials category.
The IPPI (1992=100) stood at 129.3 in February, up from 128.6 in January. The RMPI (1992=100) rose to 146.5 in February from its revised level of 144.3 in January.
Between mid-January and mid-February, the value of the U.S. dollar strengthened noticeably against the Canadian dollar, pushing up commodity prices quoted in U.S. dollars. The impact on the IPPI was such that if the exchange rate had remained unchanged, the IPPI would have edged up 0.1% from January to February.
On a 12-month basis, the influence of the dollar was also evident. Without the exchange rate effect, the IPPI would have risen 1.3% rather than 2.6% from February 2000 to February 2001.
The impact of the exchange rate was particularly apparent in car and truck prices. Automobile and truck export prices climbed 1.5% in February compared with January, while their domestic counterparts edged up 0.1% and 0.3%, respectively. Overall, motor vehicle prices were up 1.4% compared with January and 6.1% compared with February 2000.
Rising prices for motor vehicles and petroleum products pushed up both monthly and annual prices for finished goods. After two consecutive monthly declines, finished goods prices gained 0.7% between January and February, and were 3.6% higher than in February 2000.
"Finished goods" are considered to be goods generally purchased for the purpose of either consumption or investment. Most of the foods and feeds category ends up in the hands of consumers. Most capital goods are equipment and machinery generally bought as investment by companies, governments, and government agencies. Of the remainder, much is bought by consumers.
In February, intermediate goods producers found the change in their annual prices decelerating for a fourth consecutive month, as lower lumber prices were more than offset by higher prices for paper, petroleum and chemical products. Prices for input goods rose 2.0% in February compared with February 2000, a slower gain than in January (+2.8%).
On a monthly basis, prices for input goods advanced 0.5% on the strength of prices for primary metal products, lumber, meat products and motor vehicles.
"Intermediate goods," sometimes referred to as "input goods," are goods which are generally bought by other manufacturers to be used in the production process (i.e., to make other goods).
Available on CANSIM: matrices 1870-1879.
The February 2001 issue of Industry price indexes (62-011-XPB, $22/$217) will be available in April. See How to order products.
For more information, or to enquire about the concepts, methods or data quality of this release, contact the Client Services Unit (613-951-9606; fax: 613-951-1539; infounit@statcan.gc.ca), Prices Division.
Industrial product price indexes
(1992=100)
| Relative importance | February 2000 | January 2001(r) | February 2001(p) | February 2000 to February 2001 | January to February 2001 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| % change | ||||||
| Industrial product price index | 100.00 | 126.0 | 128.6 | 129.3 | 2.6 | 0.5 |
| Intermediate goods(1) | 59.28 | 127.5 | 129.5 | 130.1 | 2.0 | 0.5 |
| First-stage intermediate goods(2) | 7.91 | 138.8 | 145.7 | 146.5 | 5.5 | 0.5 |
| Second-stage intermediate goods(3) | 51.37 | 125.8 | 127.0 | 127.6 | 1.4 | 0.5 |
| Finished goods(4) | 40.72 | 123.6 | 127.2 | 128.1 | 3.6 | 0.7 |
| Finished foods and feeds | 10.38 | 115.9 | 117.6 | 117.8 | 1.6 | 0.2 |
| Capital equipment | 10.21 | 124.6 | 127.7 | 128.7 | 3.3 | 0.8 |
| All other finished goods | 20.13 | 127.1 | 131.8 | 133.1 | 4.7 | 1.0 |
| Aggregation by commodities | ||||||
| Meat, fish and dairy products | 7.27 | 123.1 | 125.3 | 126.5 | 2.8 | 1.0 |
| Fruit, vegetable, feed, miscellaneous food products | 6.72 | 109.4 | 111.9 | 111.7 | 2.1 | -0.2 |
| Beverages | 2.12 | 119.0 | 121.9 | 122.0 | 2.5 | 0.1 |
| Tobacco and tobacco products | 0.72 | 140.6 | 151.7 | 151.4 | 7.7 | -0.2 |
| Rubber, leather, plastic fabric products | 3.01 | 117.1 | 119.7 | 119.9 | 2.4 | 0.2 |
| Textile products | 1.82 | 106.9 | 108.4 | 108.1 | 1.1 | -0.3 |
| Knitted products and clothing | 1.93 | 109.9 | 110.4 | 110.3 | 0.4 | -0.1 |
| Lumber, sawmill, other wood products | 5.20 | 145.6 | 124.3 | 125.8 | -13.6 | 1.2 |
| Furniture and fixtures | 1.46 | 118.5 | 119.9 | 119.9 | 1.2 | 0.0 |
| Pulp and paper products | 7.65 | 135.7 | 149.0 | 149.7 | 10.3 | 0.5 |
| Printing and publishing | 3.05 | 136.7 | 140.7 | 141.1 | 3.2 | 0.3 |
| Primary metal products | 7.58 | 130.6 | 123.4 | 124.7 | -4.5 | 1.1 |
| Metal fabricated products | 4.11 | 125.6 | 125.1 | 125.3 | -0.2 | 0.2 |
| Machinery and equipment | 4.08 | 115.8 | 115.7 | 115.9 | 0.1 | 0.2 |
| Autos, trucks, other transportation equipment | 18.76 | 130.2 | 135.1 | 136.7 | 5.0 | 1.2 |
| Electrical and communications products | 6.03 | 104.4 | 105.4 | 105.6 | 1.1 | 0.2 |
| Non-metallic mineral products | 2.12 | 118.4 | 120.7 | 120.7 | 1.9 | 0.0 |
| Petroleum and coal products(5) | 6.01 | 152.8 | 168.4 | 169.8 | 11.1 | 0.8 |
| Chemicals and chemical products | 7.60 | 120.2 | 128.7 | 128.8 | 7.2 | 0.1 |
| Miscellaneous manufactured products | 2.45 | 120.8 | 119.0 | 119.3 | -1.2 | 0.3 |
| Miscellaneous non-manufactured commodities | 0.31 | 126.5 | 119.3 | 121.4 | -4.0 | 1.8 |
| r | Revised figures. |
| p | Preliminary figures. |
| 1 | Intermediate goods are goods used principally to produce other goods. |
| 2 | First-stage intermediate goods are items used most frequently to produce other intermediate goods. |
| 3 | Second-stage intermediate goods are items most commonly used to produce final goods. |
| 4 | Finished goods are goods most commonly used for immediate consumption or for capital investment. |
| 5 | This index is estimated for the current month. |
Raw materials price indexes
(1992=100)
| Relative importance | February 2000 | January 2001(r) | February 2001(p) | February 2000 to February 2001 | January to February 2001 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| % change | ||||||
| Raw materials price index (RMPI) | 100.00 | 139.9 | 144.3 | 146.5 | 4.7 | 1.5 |
| Mineral fuels | 31.47 | 177.5 | 190.2 | 194.2 | 9.4 | 2.1 |
| Vegetable products | 9.41 | 110.6 | 119.1 | 119.2 | 7.8 | 0.1 |
| Animals and animal products | 24.41 | 117.8 | 119.3 | 122.8 | 4.2 | 2.9 |
| Wood | 14.88 | 140.2 | 141.6 | 141.9 | 1.2 | 0.2 |
| Ferrous materials | 3.17 | 122.3 | 111.5 | 110.0 | -10.1 | -1.3 |
| Non-ferrous metals | 13.81 | 121.0 | 115.8 | 116.4 | -3.8 | 0.5 |
| Non-metallic minerals | 2.85 | 120.2 | 123.1 | 122.8 | 2.2 | -0.2 |
| RMPI excluding mineral fuels | 68.53 | 122.6 | 123.2 | 124.6 | 1.6 | 1.1 |
| r | Revised figures. |
| p | Preliminary figures. |