Prices for manufactured goods at the plant gate continued to decline in November, Statistics Canada said today.

StatsCan said manufacturers’ prices posted their largest monthly drop since May 2003.

The 12-month change in the industrial product price index (IPPI) was 4.1% in November, down from a 5.5% increase in October. On a monthly basis, the index fell 1.7%.

Meanwhile, raw materials prices fell 5.3% in November, compared with a 4.1% increase in October, as prices were down for crude oil.

However, raw material prices were up 19.7% from November 2003, but that was down from a 12-month rise of 28.4% in October, StatsCan said.

“There were price declines in mineral fuels, wood products, vegetable products, animals and animal products, and ferrous materials,” the government agency said.

Prices that manufacturers paid for intermediate goods, those generally bought to make other products, were up 7.1% from November 2003 but down 1.6% from October.

Prices for finished goods were down 0.3% in November from a year earlier and by 1.9% from October.