Canadian producer prices rose in August on higher costs for energy and petroleum products as refineries in the United States were shut down due to Hurricane Harvey, data from Statistics Canada showed on Friday.
The 0.3 percent increase was shy of economists' forecasts for a gain of 0.5 percent, while figure for July was downwardly revised to show a decline of 1.6 percent from the originally reported 1.5 percent decrease.
Prices for energy and petroleum products jumped 2.8 percent due to costlier motor gasoline and diesel fuel. The higher prices coincided with the closure of refineries and transportation hubs in the U.S. Gulf Coast due to Harvey, the statistics agency said.
The raw materials price index rose 1 percent as the cost of crude energy products climbed 3 percent. Excluding crude, the raw materials index was down 0.1 percent.
(Reporting by Leah Schnurr; Editing by Paul Simao)
