Lower Lumber and Wood Product Pricing Limits Canadian Industrial Price Index Increases

Statistics Canada (StatCan) today (8-13-21) released its Flash Estimate for July 2021, Industrial Product Price Index (IPPI). The IPPI edge up 0.1% month-over-month in July and is up 16.2% year-over-year. The growth in the IPPI was led primarily by higher prices for energy and petroleum products (5.1%) and chemical products (6.3%). The gains were largely offset by lower prices for lumber and other wood products, which posted a -23%.0% loss in July, after declining -6.6% in June. Lower prices for softwood lumber (-37.7%) were the main contributing factors to the decrease in this group. The large decrease is partially attributable to increased supply at sawmills. If lumber and other wood products were excluded from calculation, the IPPI would have risen 2.1%.