Manufacturing sales in Canada edged up 0.1 percent to $52.2 billion in September after a sizeable 3.7 percent decrease in August, Statistics Canada announced on November 14.
However, measured in constant dollars, manufacturing sales rose 0.7 percent compared with August as a result of decreasing industrial product prices. The constant dollar measurement takes price fluctuations into account, providing an indicator of the volume of sales during the month. The constant dollar gain in September followed a notable 4.0 percent decrease in August.
At the industry level, 13 of 21 manufacturing industries increased in September.
Transportation equipment industry up
The transportation equipment industry (+1.1 percent) reported the largest gain in September, increasing for the fourth time in five months. Sales gains were mostly due to a 4.8 percent rise in production by aerospace product and parts manufacturers. Motor vehicle manufacturers reported a 0.3 percent decline in September after slipping 4.7 percent in August.
Primary metal manufacturers posted the most notable decrease in September, reporting a 3.0 percent drop in sales. Sales by primary metal manufacturers were affected for the most part by a 2.8 percent decrease in prices.
Note to readersAll data in this release are seasonally adjusted and are expressed in current dollars unless otherwise specified. Preliminary estimates are provided for the current reference month. Estimates, based on late responses, are revised for the three previous months. Non-durable goods industries include food, beverage and tobacco products, textile mills, textile product mills, clothing, leather and allied products, paper, printing and related support activities, petroleum and coal products, chemicals, and plastics and rubber products. Durable goods industries include wood products, non-metallic mineral products, primary metals, fabricated metal products, machinery, computer and electronic products, electrical equipment, appliances and components, transportation equipment, furniture and related products and miscellaneous manufacturing. Production-based industries: For the aerospace industry and shipbuilding industries, the value of production is used instead of sales of goods manufactured. This value is calculated by adjusting monthly sales of goods manufactured by the monthly change in inventories of goods in process and finished products manufactured. Unfilled orders are a stock of orders that will contribute to future sales assuming that the orders are not cancelled. New orders are those received whether sold in the current month or not. New orders are measured as the sum of sales for the current month plus the change in unfilled orders from the previous month to the current month. |
Provincial sales results mixed
Manufacturing sales results were mixed at the provincial level, with an even split between gains and losses.
Manufacturers in Alberta led all provincial gains in September, reporting a 4.2 percent increase in sales. Despite a 4.5 percent drop in prices, petroleum and coal product manufacturers reported a 7.3 percent increase in sales. Primary metal manufacturers in the province also reported strong sales for September.
Quebec manufacturers saw sales increase 1.6 percent in September. Sales have been trending steadily higher over the past year and now stand 7.8 percent above September 2007. The transportation equipment industry, led by aerospace products and parts manufacturers, accounted for much of September's gains. Sales in the transportation industry rebounded by 14.7 percent after three consecutive monthly decreases.
Manufacturing sales in Ontario lost ground for a second consecutive month, slipping 0.9 percent. Primary metal sales for the province decreased 8.6 percent on the heels of a similar sized decrease in August. The transportation equipment industry also reported lower sales in September, declining by 1.2 percent. Motor vehicles and motor vehicle part manufacturers in September both had lower sales in Ontario.
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Inventory levels ease slightly
Inventory levels eased for the first time in seven months, decreasing 0.3 percent compared with August. For the most part, manufacturers have been steadily building inventories in 2008 after having drawn down inventories throughout 2007.
Petroleum and coal product manufacturers were the primary source of the decline in September. Manufacturers in this industry reported a 6.0 percent drop as they mostly drew down their raw material inventories. This was the third consecutive monthly decrease in inventories by petroleum and coal manufacturers. Excluding petroleum and coal product manufacturers, inventories increased by 0.3 percent in September.
The inventory-to-sales ratio edged down to 1.29 in September after a six point gain in August. Despite some recent fluctuations, the current ratio remained very close to both the one- and three-year average of 1.30. The inventory-to-sales ratio is a measure of the time, in months, that would be required to exhaust inventories if sales were to remain at their current level.
Unfilled orders decreased 0.3 percent in September, the first decline since April 2008. Overall, unfilled orders have been rising fairly steadily over the past four years. Unfilled orders edged down to $66.2 billion in September, but remained 19.6 percent higher than September 2007.
The decrease in unfilled orders was the result of a 1.2 percent reduction of orders by aerospace product and parts manufacturers. Excluding the aerospace industry, unfilled orders rose 0.5 percent in September.
New orders dropped 3.6 percent in September, also as a result of a sizeable decrease in the aerospace products and parts industry. This was a second consecutive monthly decrease after three months of gains.
Data from the October Monthly Survey of Manufacturing will be released on December 16.
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