Manufacturers paid 17.7% more for raw materials in July compared with a year earlier, Statistics Canada said today. That’s the strongest growth in 17 months.

The cost of mineral fuels was up 18.8% from a year earlier, with crude oil prices rising 24.3%, the agency said.

With mineral fuels excluded, what the raw materials price index would have increased by 16.7%.

“On a monthly basis, raw materials prices were up 0.9% in July, following a drop of 1.2% in June. Mineral fuels were mostly responsible for the July gain, with an increase of 1.9%. Crude oil prices rose 3.5% as a result of supply uncertainties and increased demand.”

Meanwhile, the prices charged by manufacturers fell for the second month in a row, down 0.4% in July compared with a 0.5% drop in June, StatsCan said.

However, manufacturers’ prices were up by 5% on an annual basis. That compared with a 6.8% increase in June, the agency said.

Prices for intermediate goods, those generally bought by manufacturers to make other products, remained unchanged from June, but producers received 8.3% more in July than they did a year earlier.

On a monthly basis, prices for finished goods were down 1% from June, but up 0.5% from July 2003.