Canadian industrial prices are rising at the fastest pace in more than 40 years amid soaring demand for lumber.
Factory prices rose 14.2% in April from a year earlier, the biggest gain since 1980, according to an early estimate released Thursday by Statistics Canada. The price increases were led by a 166% jump in the cost of softwood lumber, the largest yearly gain since 1956.
“It reflects the strength we’ve seen in commodity prices, and if it persists it will put pressure on consumer prices” Benjamin Reitzes, rates and macro strategist with BMO Capital Markets, said by email.
Industrial product prices rose 1.7% on the month, the agency said. Some of the gains are due to the price index being weakened by the pandemic in April 2020, boosting the yearly gains in a phenomenon known as the base effect.
