Canada’s Producer Price Index and Raw Materials Price Index Decline Month-Over-Month in December
Industrial product and raw materials price indexes, December 2022
Statistics Canada (StatCan) on Wednesday (1-18-23) reported that in December 2022, the Industrial Product Price Index (IPPI) declined 1.1% month-over-month but was up 7.6% year-over-year. The Raw Materials Price Index (RMPI) fell 3.1% on a month-over-month basis in December but posted a 7.5% year-over-year gain.
Leading the monthly decrease in the IPPI and RMPI was the price for energy and petroleum which declined 9.8%, falling for the second consecutive month in December. For comparison, in December 2021, prices were up 31.8%.
Prices for softwood lumber fell 8.9% in December, posting a fifth consecutive monthly decline. On a yearly basis, softwood lumber prices were down 40.2% in December—the largest year-over-year decline on record since the start of the series in January 1956. StatsCan indicates that the decline was mainly due a slowing in the US residential housing market, which coincided with higher mortgage interest rates in the US.
FEA compiles the Wood Markets News from various 3rd party sources to provide readers with the latest news impacting forest product markets. Opinions or views expressed in these articles do not necessarily represent those of FEA.