Two Provinces Lead Record Manufacturing Sales in April

July 3, 2017

Manufacturing sales rose 1.1% to a record high $54.4 billion in April, mainly due to higher sales in the petroleum and coal product, and primary metal industries.

Sales were up in 13 of the 21 industries, representing 62% of Canadian manufacturing sales.

Once the effects of price changes are taken into consideration, manufacturing sales volumes rose 0.5%.

Sales up in eight provinces

Sales were up in eight provinces in April, with Quebec and Alberta largely responsible for the total national gain, while sales were down in Saskatchewan and Manitoba.

In Quebec, sales rose 2.6% to a record high $13.0 billion in April, mainly attributable to a 10.9% gain in the transportation equipment industry. Sales also rose in the petroleum and coal products, computer and electronic product and primary metal industries.

Sales in Alberta rose for the third consecutive month, up 3.0% to $6.0 billion in April. Sales were up in 11 of 21 industries, largely driven by a 7.5% increase in the petroleum and coal products industry. Sales were also up in the machinery, food and wood product industries.

The largest monthly decrease was in Saskatchewan, where sales fell 6.0% to $1.3 billion in April. This was the third consecutive decline and was largely attributable to lower sales of non-durable goods.

Inventory levels increase

Inventory levels rose for the fifth consecutive month, up 0.9% to $73.4 billion in April. Inventories were up in 14 of 21 industries, led by the transportation equipment (+1.9%) and primary metal (+2.4%) industries. These gains were partially offset by a 2.2% decline in petroleum and coal product inventories.

The inventory-to-sales ratio was unchanged at 1.35 in April. The inventory-to-sales ratio measures the time, in months, that would be required to exhaust inventories if sales were to remain at their current level.

Unfilled orders increase

Unfilled orders rose for the third consecutive month, up 1.0% to $90.2 billion in April, reflecting a 1.7% gain in the aerospace product and parts industry to $49.8 billion.Unfilled orders in this industry represented more than half of total orders.

Unfilled orders were also up in the machinery, fabricated metal product and computer and electronic product industries.

New orders rose 0.4% to $55.3 billion, the fifth consecutive monthly gain. The increase, which was mainly attributable to more new orders in the petroleum and coal products and aerospace product and parts industries, was partially offset by fewer new orders in the motor vehicle industry.

The petroleum and coal products and the primary metal industries post the largest gains

Sales in the petroleum and coal products industry rose 8.9% to $5.4 billion in April, following two months of declines. The increase reflected higher volumes and prices for petroleum and coal products. After removing the effect of price changes, sales in volume terms increased 7.8% in April.

Sales in the primary metal industry rose 3.8% to $4.2 billion, the third increase in four months. The increase in April partly reflected higher volumes and prices of primary metal products. In constant dollars, sales in the primary metal industry were up 2.5%, indicating higher volumes of products were sold.

Sales also increased in the paper (+3.5%), food (+0.5%) and machinery (+1.5%) industries. These gains were widespread and reflected higher volumes in these industries.

In contrast, sales in the transportation equipment industry decreased 1.3% to $11.0 billion. The decline was mainly attributable to the motor vehicle (-3.7%) and motor vehicle parts (-2.1%) industries, which both posted increases the previous month. Once the effects of price changes are taken into consideration, sales volumes declined by 4.7% in the motor vehicle industry and 2.9% in the motor vehicle parts industry in April.

Source: Statistics Canada, www.statcan.gc.ca/daily-quotidien/170615/dq170615b-eng.htm.