Steep price increases in the oil and primary metals industries in the first half of the year pushed up the total value of sales while volume of sales grew at a slower pace. [...] As a result, the high value of the Canadian dollar in the first half of the year eroded the price advantage of Canadian-made goods versus those of their US counterparts. [...] As in Canada, much of the increase was concentrated in the commodity-based sector in the first half of the year. [...] High prices for energy products in the first half of the year contributed to a year-ending 22.2% jump in sales of petroleum and coal products, the seventh annual increase in a row. [...] Various reasons may have contributed to the noted difference between the two countries, including the composition of key inventory-holding industries in Canada versus the United States, as well as the difference in the share of inventories by the stage of fabrication between the two countries.