Canada producer prices rise in February for sixth straight month

OTTAWA (Reuters) - Canadian producer prices rose in February for the sixth month in a row, edging up by 0.1 percent from January due in part to higher prices for meat, fish and dairy products, Statistics Canada said on Thursday. Analysts polled by Reuters had forecast a 0.3 percent advance over January. Statscan revised January's increase to 0.6 percent from an initial 0.4 percent. Of the 21 major commodity groups, prices climbed in eight, fell in 10 and were unchanged in three. Stronger demand for frozen pork helped drive overall prices for meat, fish and dairy products up by 1.5 percent. Primary non-ferrous metal products rose by 1.5 percent, while prices of energy and petroleum products fell by 0.7 percent. Prices for motorized and recreational vehicles fell by 0.4 percent, largely due to a 0.6 percent increase in the Canadian dollar against the greenback in February. Many vehicles are priced in U.S. dollars and become less expensive when the Canadian currency strengthens. Raw material prices climbed by 1.2 percent from January and jumped by 23.7 percent on an annual basis, the largest year-on-year gain since the 25.3 percent rise in July 2011. Higher energy prices were largely responsible. (Reporting by David Ljunggren; Editing by Lisa Von Ahn)