Canadian Industrial Product and Raw Materials Price Indexes for May

On Friday, Statistics Canada (StatCan) reported that the prices of products manufactured in Canada, as measured by the Industrial Product Price Index (IPPI), were unchanged month-over-month in May but were up 1.8% year-over-year.

In May, the IPPI for lumber and other wood products declined 4.9% from April. Lower prices for softwood lumber, down 10.2%, drove the month-over-month decline. This is the largest monthly decrease in softwood lumber prices since June 2023, when they declined 29.4%. Lumber demand was soft in May amid continued housing affordability challenges, StatCan said. Despite recent operational curtailments at sawmills, the low demand has resulted in sawmills accepting lower prices for their lumber.

Prices of raw materials purchased by manufacturers operating in Canada, as measured by the Raw Materials Price Index (RMPI), declined 1.0% month-over-month in May but increased 7.6% year-over-year.