Our Materials Price Index (MPI) climbed 3.5% last week, building on its 3% gain the previous week. It was another week when prices collectively recorded a significant weekly gain sending the MPI to a seven-year high. The MPI now stands 57% higher than in late February 2020. All but one of the MPI's ten sub-components posted increases last week with energy, metals and chemicals the notable movers. Our energy index was up 6.8% as cold weather in Texas froze pipelines and forced 20% of US natural gas supply offline. This sent the Henry Hub spot price to $10.33/MMBtu from $4.63/MMbtu in the preceding week, an ... (full story)