Industrial products, raw materials prices decline in May: StatsCan
July 4, 2011
By The Canadian Press
Statistics Canada is reporting that prices both for industrial products and raw materials slipped in May.
The agency says its Industrial Product Price Index edged down 0.2 percent, while the Raw Materials Price Index fell 5.2 percent.
The major contributors to the declines were metals in the case of the industrial index and petroleum for the raw materials index.
The decrease in the industrial index ended nine straight monthly gains and was largely a result of lower prices for primary metal products, which dropped 2.8 percent.
Petroleum and coal products (down 0.9 percent), as well as lumber and other wood products (down 1.6 percent) contributed more modestly to the decline.
The industrial index was up 4.5 percent over May 2010, while the raw materials index posted a 25.4 percent annual increase.
The month-to-month drop in the raw materials index ended a series of seven consecutive monthly gains, and was driven mainly by mineral fuels (down 8.4 percent).
