Canadian producer prices drop for second consecutive month

OTTAWA (Reuters) - Canadian producer prices fell 0.5 percent in August, pulled down for the second consecutive month by lower prices for primary non-ferrous metal products, Statistics Canada said on Friday. Analysts in a Reuters poll predicted a 0.3 percent decrease from July, when prices declined by 0.2 percent after six monthly gains in a row. Lower prices for aluminum and cooper and their alloys helped drag down the primary non-ferrous metal products sector by 3.4 percent, the largest month-on-month decrease since July 2017. Graphic - Canada producer prices: http://link.reuters.com/cuj92t Meat, fish and dairy product prices dropped by 2.1 percent on weaker demand for fresh and frozen pork. Energy and petroleum product prices posted their third consecutive monthly decline, falling by 0.5 percent. Raw materials prices fell by 4.6 percent from July, the biggest decline since December 2015, on lower prices for crude oil as well as animals and animal products. Graphic - Canada economic snapshot: http://tmsnrt.rs/2e8hNWV (Reporting by David Ljunggren; Editing by Jeffrey Benkoe)