The Daily, Tuesday, May 17, 2005. Machinery and equipment price indexes

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Machinery and equipment price indexes

The Machinery and Equipment Price Index (1986=100) was 127.3 in the first quarter, up 1.1% from the fourth quarter of 2004. The domestic and imported components increased 0.9% and 1.2% respectively. Compared with the first quarter of 2004, the index fell 1.0% due to a drop in the import series (-3.8%).

The first quarter increase of 1.1% was modest compared with declines of 1.6% in the third quarter and 2.7% in the fourth. Otherwise, the largest portion of the increase was due to manufacturing (+2.1%) and transport (+1.0%), and was concentrated in a few commodities.

Every industrial sector increased except agriculture (-0.7%). Chemical (+3.7%) and primary metals (+3.3%) contributed the most to the manufacturing increase. Transport, communication, storage and utilities was led by electricity power (+1.6%) and air transport (+1.8%), but was moderated by railway transport (-4.3%) and urban transit (-2.8%).

Machinery and equipment price indexes

(1986=100)

Relative importance

First quarter 2005^p

Fourth quarter 2004 to First quarter 2005

First quarter 2004 to First quarter 2005

% change

Machinery and equipment price index

100.0

127.3

1.1

-1.0

Agriculture

11.0

142.3

-0.7

-3.5

Forestry

1.5

139.8

0.6

-0.4

Fishing

0.6

127.8

0.8

Mines, quarries and oil wells

6.0

130.8

1.2

-1.4

Manufacturing

29.9

135.9

2.1

-0.3

Construction

3.5

130.3

1.2

-2.7

Transportation, communication, storage and utilities

25.9

123.3

1.0

-0.2

Trade

4.0

114.6

0.9

-1.3

Finance, insurance and real estate

1.8

108.9

1.1

0.7

Community, business and personal services

11.1

103.0

0.7

-2.0

Public administration

4.7

124.3

1.1

-0.9

^p	Preliminary figures.

At the commodity level, the greatest contributors were specialized industrial equipment (+2.5%), special purpose furniture (+6.9%), aircraft modifications and conversions (+2.9%), aircrafts (+2.0%) and packaging (+2.4%). However, these increases were dampened by the drop in locomotive, cars and tenders (-5.9%) and trucks (-0.7%). The specialized industrial equipment was led mainly by the jump of domestic prices of chemicals and petroleum industries (+10.7%) and by imported prices of primary metals (+6.1%).

The rise in the quarterly Index is the consequence of the strengthening of the American dollar versus the Canadian dollar (+0.5%), along with the indirect effect of stronger international prices for petroleum and minerals. Compared to the fourth quarter of 2004, raw materials, non-ferrous minerals and oil minerals increased 3.4%, 6.7% and 6.4% respectively; in 2004 these commodities had annual increases of 11.7%, 27.8% and 21.8%.

Available on CANSIM: tables 327-0013, 327-0014 and 327-0016.

Definitions, data sources and methods: survey number 2312.

The first quarter 2005 issue of Capital Expenditure Price Statistics (62-007-XPB, $26/$85) will be available in July.

For more information, or to enquire about the concepts, methods, and data quality of this release, contact Rebecca McDougall (613-951-3357; fax: 613-951-1539, infounit@statcan.gc.ca), Prices Division.