Canada PPI data for March
The Industrial Product Price Index (IPPI) rose 0.8% in March, mainly due to higher prices for motorized and recreational vehicles and primary non-ferrous metal products. The Raw Materials Price Index (RMPI) decreased 1.6%, primarily due to lower prices for crude energy products.
The IPPI (+0.8%) increased for a seventh consecutive month in March. The gain follows a 0.3% gain in February. The gain was the largest increase since June 2016. A total of 20 of the 21 major commodity groups, were up and 1 was down. The IPPI rose 5.1% over the 12-month period ending in March, after increasing 3.6% in February. This was the largest year-over-year increase since November 2011 (+6.0%).
The RMPI was down 1.6% in March (last month the gain was 1.3%). This was the largest decline in the RMPI since July 2016 (-2.7%). Of the six major commodity groups, three were down and three were up. The decrease in the RMPI was primarily due to lower prices for crude energy products (-4.3%). The decline in this product group was mainly attributable to lower prices for conventional crude oil (-4.4%). This was the first decline in conventional crude oil since November 2016 (-7.4%). The RMPI excluding crude energy products rose 0.4%. The RMPI rose 16.6% in the 12-month period ending in March, following a 23.9% increase in February.
The USDCAD is little changed as the market also digests the CAD GDP (2.5% vs 2.6% est.) and the US GDP (0.7% vs 1.0% est.).
