Mining News
Canadian steel products prices up 51% year-over-year in July on strong demand from China - StatCan
(Kitco News) - According to the data recently released by Statistics Canada (StatCan), the domestic industrial product price index (IPPI) fell 0.4% month-over-month in July, and was up 15.4% year-over-year.
StatCan reported that among the 21 major commodity groups, 17 were up, 3 were down, and 1 was unchanged.
The biggest influence on the IPPI in July was the decline in lumber and other wood products (-23.0%), primarily driven by a 37.7% drop in prices for softwood lumber, the biggest monthly decline on record for this product group.
Importantly, authors of the report noted that prices for basic and semi-finished iron or steel products were up 5.9% in July, an 11th consecutive monthly increase. Compared with July 2020, prices are 50.9% higher, the biggest year-over-year increase on record. The increase in steel and iron has been mainly driven by strong demand from China, StatCan explained.
Prices of the energy and petroleum products commodity group rose 3.1%. Prices were higher for refined petroleum energy products (+2.9%). Prices for chemicals and chemical products were up 3.4%, mostly driven by an increase in prices for petrochemicals (+13.4%). Prices in both these groups coincided with higher prices for their feedstocks, including crude oil and natural gas liquids.
StatCan added that year-over-year, the IPPI rose 15.4% in July, a 12th consecutive advance, following a 17.2% increase in June. This was mostly driven by higher prices for energy and petroleum products (+46.9%), primary ferrous metal products (+49.8%), as well as lumber and other wood products (+39.1%) compared with July 2020.
