Rates and Statistics

The Bank of Canada Commodity Price Index (BCPI) is a fixed-weight index of the spot or transaction prices of 23 commodities produced in Canada and sold in world markets. The weight of each commodity in the total index and in the subindexes is based on the average value of Canadian production of the commodity over the 1988-99 period. The commodities included in the index and their respective weightings are listed in Table 1.

The monthly and weekly data for the total BCPI and the BCPI excluding energy, as well as the energy, food, and industrial materials subindexes, are available from the CANSIM database of Statistics Canada. The CANSIM identification numbers for these series are shown in Table 1. Recent data are published in table H9 of the quarterly Bank of Canada Review and in the monthly statistical supplement of the Review. The series are indexed to 1982-90 = 100 in U.S. dollar terms.

The prices for many of the commodities in the index are the averages of daily data. Prices for other commodities are available only on a weekly basis (usually available several weeks after the reference period) or monthly (in most cases, usually available two months after the reference period). When data for the reference period are not available immediately, the most recent available data are repeated until the actual data are received. The series are revised when the actual data become available.

The weekly series are the averages for the 5 business days ending with the Wednesday. The monthly series are the averages for all days in the month.

• Weights of Commodities and Sub-Indexes in the BCPI

• Description of BCPI Components