Industrial product and raw materials price indexes, April 2026

Released: 2026-05-22

Prices of products manufactured in Canada, as measured by the Industrial Product Price Index (IPPI), rose 2.0% month over month in April and increased 11.4% year over year. Meanwhile, prices of raw materials purchased by manufacturers operating in Canada, as measured by the Raw Materials Price Index (RMPI), gained 2.6% month over month and rose 31.6% year over year.

Chart 1 
Prices for industrial products increase in April

Industrial Product Price Index

The IPPI rose 2.0% month over month in April, the fourth consecutive monthly increase for the index. Disruptions to shipping in the Strait of Hormuz, an important global shipping lane for petroleum and other products, exerted significant upward pressure on the prices of several commodities for the second consecutive month. Most notably, the supply disruption influenced prices for energy and petroleum products, chemicals and chemical products, and unwrought aluminum and aluminum alloys (under the primary non-ferrous metal products commodity group). Energy and petroleum products was the primary contributor to the IPPI's month-over-month increase in April. Excluding energy and petroleum products, the IPPI increased 1.1% during the month.

Prices for energy and petroleum products (+7.7%) posted a fourth consecutive month-over-month increase in April, which followed a notable 26.9% gain in March. Higher prices for refined petroleum energy products (+8.1%) drove the increase in April, primarily due to higher prices for finished motor gasoline (+12.8%), diesel fuel (+3.9%), light fuel oils (except kerosene and diesel) (+2.7%) and jet fuel (+2.5%). Higher prices for crude energy products (+8.2%) applied upward pressure on refined petroleum prices in April.

Prices for chemicals and chemical products rose 7.3% month over month in April, the largest monthly rise on record for this series, which dates back to January 1981. The April 2026 increase was driven by plastic resins (+35.7%) as well as dyes and pigments, and petrochemicals (+15.0%); both series recorded their largest month-over-month gain since they began in January 2010. Fertilizers, pesticides and other chemical products (+5.7%) also contributed to the commodity group's increase in April 2026, albeit to a lesser extent.

Prices for fruit, vegetables, feed and other food products rose 1.7% month over month in April, leading to an increase for a fourth consecutive month. This was the largest monthly gain for this commodity group since April 2025 (+1.7%) and it was driven by price movements from grain and oilseed products, n.e.c. (not elsewhere classified) (+11.0%). Grain and oilseed products registered their largest month-over-month increase ever in April 2026, based on data available since January 2020.

The prices of primary non-ferrous metal products were up 0.3% from March to April, following two consecutive monthly declines. Unwrought aluminum and aluminum alloys (+10.0%) made the largest upward contribution to the primary non-ferrous metal products commodity group, followed by unwrought copper and copper alloys (+3.5%). Lower prices for unwrought gold, silver, and platinum group metals, and their alloys (-2.5%), representing a larger weight in the index than aluminum and copper products, offset the increase. Monthly declines were observed for unwrought silver and silver alloys (-3.0%), unwrought gold and gold alloys (-2.6%) and unwrought platinum group metals, and their alloys (-1.0%).

Year over year

The IPPI increased 11.4% year over year in April 2026, the index's 19th consecutive month of year-over-year increase.

In April, the IPPI's year-over-year increase was driven by high prices for unwrought gold, silver, and platinum group metals, and their alloys (+82.3%), which have increased due to strong investment demand for much of the past year. However, many product groups recorded year-over-year gains. Other large contributors to the increase included diesel fuel (+58.0%), finished motor gasoline (+38.4%), light fuel oils (+67.6%), unwrought aluminum and aluminum alloys (+32.0%), grain and oilseed products, n.e.c. (+37.7%) and unwrought copper and copper alloys (+38.5%).

Raw Materials Price Index

The RMPI gained 2.6% month over month in April, led by increasing prices for crude energy products (+8.2%). Excluding crude energy products, the RMPI decreased 0.5%.

Prices for crude energy products rose 8.2% in April after increasing 41.1% in March. Both conventional crude oil (+6.2%) and synthetic crude oil (+17.8%) recorded monthly increases in April. Prices for crude oil continued to increase in April due to disruptions to shipping in the Strait of Hormuz. According to the International Energy Agency, global oil supply declined by another 1.8 million barrels per day in April, following a loss of more than 10 million barrels per day in March 2026.

Prices for metal ores, concentrates and scrap declined 0.9% month over month in April. The monthly decline was driven by lower prices for gold, silver, and platinum group metal ores and concentrates (-3.0%). Prices declined for both gold ores, concentrates and mill bullion (-2.9%) and silver ores, concentrates and mill bullion (-3.2%).

Year over year

The RMPI rose 31.6% year over year in April. Excluding crude energy products, the RMPI rose 22.7% year over year.

The top contributors to the RMPI's year-over-year increase in April were gold, silver, and platinum group metal ores and concentrates (+76.7%) and conventional crude oil (+51.5%). These two highly weighted product groups posted large increases relative to April 2025. Additionally, synthetic crude oil (+57.5%) made a significant contribution to the RMPI's year-over-year increase in April 2026.

Price declines for other miscellaneous crop products (-22.3%) and natural gas (-37.4%) were among the main moderators of the RMPI's year-over-year increase in April.

Chart 2 
Prices for raw materials increase in April

Contact information

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