Canadian producer prices fell slightly more than expected in August after three consecutive months of gains, driven by the lower cost of energy and petroleum products, data from Statistics Canada showed on Tuesday. The 0.3 percent decline exceeded analysts' forecasts for a decrease of 0.2 percent. Still, the declines were not widespread, with just two of the 21 major commodity groups down on the month.
Prices for energy and petroleum products dropped 4.7 percent, the largest decline since January as the price of crude oil has slumped. Excluding the energy group, producer prices rose 0.4 percent. Lower prices for chemicals and chemical products also weighed on overall producer prices. That was moderated by a 1.4 percent increase in the price of motorised and recreational vehicles due to the depreciation of the Canadian dollar. Raw materials prices saw their largest decline since January, falling 6.6 percent on lower prices for crude energy products. Compared to a year ago, raw materials costs were down 24.7 percent, the largest yearly decline since August 2009.
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