Canada's FPPI Continues to Lag 2003

OTTAWA - Jun 2/04 - SNS -- Agricultural commodity prices are generally lower than last year, with the result Statistics Canada's Farm Product Price Index (FPPI) for March sank 11.1% below last year to 97.4 points.

At the same time the FPPI is up 2.9% from the revised February index. The total index had peaked in February 2003 at 111.3, and then slid to the recent low of 92.4 in September, Statistics Canada said in releasing the latest data.

The crop index was down 16.3% from its March 2003 level of 110.7, continuing the monthly year-over-year decreases which began last July. The livestock and animal products index was 6.9% below year-earlier levels, marking the 10th consecutive year-over-year decrease. The only indexes that recorded increases compared with March 2003, were those for oilseeds and hogs and the supply-managed sectors of poultry and eggs.

The livestock and animal products index rose to 101.0 in March 2004, a 4.1% increase from February. Monthly increases were recorded in the hog index (+9.1%) and the cattle and calves index (+8.2%). The index for eggs was unchanged while dairy was down 2.4% and poultry was down 0.5%.

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