Industrial product prices continued on the way down in November, adding to the sense of general malaise in the Canadian economy.
Figures released Tuesday morning by Statistics Canada showed that the Industrial Product Price Index (IPPI) declined 0.2% in November, mainly as a result of lower prices for primary non-ferrous metal products.
The IPPI declined for the fourth straight month, falling 0.2% in November. Among the 21 major commodity groups, 11 were up, eight were down and two were static.
The agency goes on to say the IPPI's slump was mainly attributable to lower prices for primary non-ferrous metal products (-3.5%), which posted their largest decline since April 2013. Unwrought precious metals and precious metal alloys (-5.0%), specifically unwrought silver and silver alloys (-7.1%) and unwrought gold and gold alloys (-5.2%), were the main factors in the decline in prices for primary non-ferrous metals. To a lesser extent, lower prices for unwrought copper and copper alloys (-4.3%) and unwrought aluminum and aluminum alloys (-3.0%) also put downward pressure on the commodity group.
StatsCan also says meat, fish, and dairy products (-1.5%) recorded their largest decline since September 2008, primarily because of lower prices for fresh and frozen pork (-3.9%), fresh and frozen poultry of all types (-3.2%) as well as processed meat products, other meats and animal by-products (-2.2%). The drop in prices for fresh and frozen pork coincided with a 15.2% decline in the price for hogs in November.
