Energy prices were the main factor pushing up the prices for manufactured goods and raw materials in February, Statistics Canada said today.

At 0.9%, prices charged by manufacturers, as measured by the Industrial Product Price Index, registered a fifth straight monthly increase.

The index rose by 4.4% over a year earlier, with upward pressure coming largely from higher prices for primary metal products pulp-and-paper products and petroleum and coal products.

The upward movement was slowed by lower prices for lumber and other wood products.

The Raw Materials Price Index rose by 2.6% in February on the appreciation of mineral fuels and gains in all raw material groups except for non-ferrous metals.

Raw materials cost plants 9.1% more than they did a year earlier.