Diesel Price Spike Could Soon Translate Into Higher Food and Housing Costs: Report

Canadian households may soon face steeper grocery and mortgage prices as a diesel and crude oil price “shock” reverberates across supply chains, according to a new report. A record spike in diesel prices is rippling through the economy, creating inflation pressure that extends well beyond a typical move in crude oil, according to an Oct. 5 report by Olivier Gervais, Scotiabank’s director of modelling and forecasting. Gervais described it as a structural product shortage rather than a standard crude oil supply issue. A key factor is the war in Iran, which has severely disrupted maritime shipping and transit through the Strait of Hormuz, creating a bottleneck for shipments of oil and refined products....