The following is excerpted from a 29 November 2010 news release by Statistics Canada.

In October, the Industrial Product Price Index (IPPI) and the Raw Materials Price Index (RMPI) were up 0.5% and 1.7% respectively from September. Both indexes advanced mainly because of petroleum and metal products.

The 0.5% increase in the IPPI in October follows advances of 0.4% in August and 0.3% in September. The IPPI has been on a moderate upward trend since November 2009.

In October, the IPPI gain was mainly led by higher prices for petroleum and coal products (+4.5%), primary metal products (+1.3%) and, to a lesser extent, chemical products (+0.9%).

Higher prices for petroleum and coal products resulted partly from reduced supply and post-seasonal maintenance restarts of refineries in the United States. Prices for primary metal products were driven upward by steadily growing demand for precious metals. Furthermore, aluminum, copper and nickel prices rose largely because of reduced supply.

This release is available in its entirety on the Statistics Canada website at:

http://www.statcan.gc.ca/daily-quotidien/101129/dq101129b-eng.htm