Led by Higher Prices for Wood Products, Canada’s Industrial Product Price Index Increased 2% in January

Statistics Canada (StatsCan) reported today (2/26/21) that prices for products manufactured in Canada, as measured by the Industrial Product Price Index (IPPI), rose 2.0% in January. This is the result of higher prices for lumber and other wood products, as well as energy and petroleum products. Prices of raw materials purchased by manufacturers operating in Canada, as measured by the Raw Materials Price Index (RMPI), were up 5.7%, driven mainly by higher prices for crude energy products. In January, the IPPI rose 2.0%, its strongest monthly increase since February 2015 (+2.0%). Of the 21 major product groups, 15 were up, 5 were down, and 1 was unchanged. Prices for lumber and other wood products (+10.8%) were the biggest contributor to the IPPI’s growth. Prices for softwood lumber increased 19.0% in January, following a strong gain of 20.5% in December. Compared with January 2020, softwood lumber prices surged 112.1%. Persistent demand for softwood lumber was a contributing factor in these increases. From December to January, the annualized number of housing starts in Canada rose 23.1% to 282,428 units.