Manufacturers costs for raw materials increased in January as the price of crude oil rose, Statistics Canada said today.

Raw material prices rose by 4.5% in January from December and were up by 12.6% from January 2004, the government agency said.

Prices for manufactured goods at the plant gate also rose in January for the second month in a row.

On a monthly basis, StatsCan said its industrial product price index was up by 0.5%. However, the 12-month change in the index was 3.2% in January, down from 3.6% in December.

Prices that manufacturers paid for intermediate goods, those generally bought to make other products, were up 5.7% from January 2004 and by 0.5% from December.

Prices for finished goods were down 0.4% compared with January 2004, but up by 0.5% from December.