Manufacturers paid 2.4% more for raw materials in January than they did in December, mainly because of rising fuel prices, Statistics Canada says.

However, on an annual basis they paid 7.4% less for raw materials, compared with a 5% decrease in December, the agency reported Tuesday.

Mineral fuel costs were responsible for more than half the monthly increase in what the agency calls its raw materials price index.

Prices charged by manufacturers, as measured by StatsCan’s industrial product price index, were up by 0.4% in January, following a 0.3% rise in December.

However, compared with January 2003, prices were down 3.6%, largely because of the continuing effect of a strong Canadian dollar against the U.S. dollar.

Producers of intermediate goods received 0.9% more in January than they did in December, but 2.2% less than in January 2003.

The price of finished goods fell by 0.2% in January from December and were down 5.6% on an annual basis.