Industrial product and raw materials price indexes, September 2024
Released: 2024-10-22
September 2024
-0.6% 
(monthly change)
September 2024
0.2% 
(monthly change)
September 2024
-3.1%
(monthly change)
September 2024
0.6%
(monthly change)
Prices of products manufactured in Canada, as measured by the Industrial Product Price Index (IPPI), fell 0.6% month over month in September and decreased 0.9% year over year. Prices of raw materials purchased by manufacturers operating in Canada, as measured by the Raw Materials Price Index (RMPI), declined 3.1% month over month in September and fell 8.8% year over year.
Chart 1
Prices for industrial products decrease in September
Industrial Product Price Index
The IPPI decreased 0.6% from August to September. Excluding energy and petroleum products, the IPPI rose 0.2%.
Prices for energy and petroleum products (-6.5%) fell for the second month in a row in September, leading the monthly decrease in the IPPI. Lower prices were widespread among refined petroleum energy products, particularly finished motor gasoline (-10.0%) and diesel fuel (-6.6%). These decreases were partly influenced by lower prices for conventional crude oil, the primary input for refined petroleum products, as measured in the RMPI.
Prices for meat, fish and dairy products decreased 1.1% in September. In this group, the price for fresh and frozen pork decreased 3.1%, falling for the second consecutive month. Abundant supply and slow seasonal demand in September put downward pressure on prices. According to data from Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, hog slaughter numbers in both Canada and the United States rose significantly from August to September.
The IPPI's monthly decline in September was moderated by higher prices for multiple product groups, including primary non-ferrous metal products and lumber and other wood products.
Prices for primary non-ferrous metal products increased 1.0% month over month in September, mainly on higher prices for unwrought gold, silver, and platinum group metals, and their alloys (+3.7%). Interest rate cuts from the US Federal Reserve and other central banks, combined with ongoing geopolitical tensions in the Middle East, put upward pressure on precious metals prices.
Prices for lumber and other wood products rose 1.2% in September, increasing for the second consecutive month. Higher prices for softwood lumber (+3.2%) led the gain. Sawmills' curtailed activities and closures in the British Columbia interior region due to high operating costs caused a negative supply shock which contributed to this price increase. Similarly, prices for logs and bolts (+3.9%) increased in the RMPI.
Year over year
The IPPI was 0.9% lower in September compared with one year earlier, the first year-over-year decrease since March 2024 (-0.4%).
The largest contributors to September's year-over-year decrease included diesel fuel (-27.6%), finished motor gasoline (-18.8%) and grain and oilseed products, n.e.c. (-25.7%).
Partly offsetting the IPPI's year-over-year decrease, several product categories rose year over year in September. Most notably, prices were up for unwrought gold, silver, and platinum group metals, and their alloys (+28.9%), and unwrought aluminum and aluminum alloys (+29.9%).
Raw Materials Price Index
Following a 3.0% decline in August, the RMPI declined 3.1% month over month in September. This was the largest month-over-month decline in the RMPI since December 2023 (-4.9%). Excluding crude energy products, the RMPI was up 0.6% in September 2024.
Prices for crude energy products (-8.5%) drove the RMPI's monthly decline in September, mainly due to lower prices for conventional crude oil (-8.2%), which posted its largest monthly decrease since December 2023 (-9.2%). Synthetic crude oil prices (-10.1%) also fell in September 2024 relative to August. Concerns over the weak global economy and petroleum future demand put downward pressure on oil prices in September.
Animals and animal products (-1.5%) also contributed to the decline of the RMPI in September, mainly due to lower prices for hogs (-7.4%).
The prices of metal ores, concentrates and scrap rose 1.5% in September compared with August. Higher prices for gold, silver, and platinum group metal ores and concentrates (+2.7%) mainly contributed to the increase in this group in September.
Year over year
The RMPI decreased 8.8% year over year in September, the largest year-over-year decrease since July 2023 (-10.9%). Conventional crude oil (-21.4%), synthetic crude oil (-28.4%) and canola (-23.0%) were the largest contributors to the year-over-year decrease in the RMPI in September 2024.
Conversely, gold, silver, and platinum group metal ores and concentrates (+28.4%) and cattle and calves (+9.6%) contributed the most to moderating the RMPI's year-over-year decrease in September.
Chart 2
Prices for raw materials fall in September
Basket update
The Industrial Product Price Index (IPPI) and Raw Materials Price Index (RMPI) have updated their baskets. As of the August 2024 reference month, the weights of the index values will reflect 2019 production values of Canadian manufacturers, based on data from supply and use tables, the Annual Survey of Manufacturing and Logging Industries and alternative data sources. The IPPI and RMPI series have been migrated from the North American Product Classification System (NAPCS) 2017 Version 2.0 to NAPCS 2022 Version 1.0 as part of the basket update process. IPPI series aggregated according to the North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) 2017 Version 3.0 have been migrated to NAICS 2022 Version 1.0. This process resulted in several modifications, including the addition of new series, the termination of series, and updates made to titles and definitions. Series that existed in our previous basket and did not experience a code change will continue to be calculated relative to the same base period (January 2020=100). New series introduced under the classification system migration have a base period of July (July 2024=100).
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Note to readers
The Industrial Product Price Index (IPPI) and the Raw Materials Price Index (RMPI) are available at the Canada level only. Selected commodity groups within the IPPI are also available by region.
With each release, data for the previous six months may have been revised. The indexes are not seasonally adjusted.
The IPPI reflects the prices that producers in Canada receive as goods leave the plant gate. The IPPI does not reflect what the consumer pays. Unlike the Consumer Price Index, the IPPI excludes indirect taxes and all costs that occur between the time a good leaves the plant and the time the final user takes possession of the good. This includes transportation, wholesale and retail costs.
Canadian producers export many goods. Canadian producers often indicate goods' prices in foreign currencies, especially in US dollars, which are then converted into Canadian dollars. This is particularly the case for motor vehicles, pulp and paper products, and wood products. Therefore, fluctuations in the value of the Canadian dollar against its US counterpart affect the IPPI. However, the conversion to Canadian dollars reflects only how respondents provide their prices. This is not a measure that takes into account the full effect of exchange rates.
The conversion of prices received in US dollars is based on the average monthly exchange rate established by the Bank of Canada and available in Table 33-10-0163-01 (series v111666275). Monthly and annual variations in the exchange rate, as described in the release, are calculated according to the indirect quotation of the exchange rate (for example, CAN$1 = US$X).
The RMPI reflects the prices paid by Canadian manufacturers for key raw materials. Many of those prices are set on the world market. However, as few prices are denominated in foreign currencies, their conversion into Canadian dollars has only a minor effect on the calculation of the RMPI.
Products
Statistics Canada launched the Producer Price Indexes Portal as part of a suite of portals for prices and price indexes. This webpage provides Canadians with a single point of access to a variety of statistics and measures related to producer prices.
The video "Producer price indexes" is available on the Statistics Canada Training Institute webpage. It introduces Statistics Canada's producer price indexes: what they are, how they are made and what they are used for.
Next release
The industrial product and raw materials price indexes for October will be released on November 21.
Contact information
For more information, or to enquire about the concepts, methods or data quality of this release, contact us (toll-free 1-800-263-1136; 514-283-8300; infostats@statcan.gc.ca) or Media Relations (statcan.mediahotline-ligneinfomedias.statcan@statcan.gc.ca).
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