Canadian manufacturing sales increased 0.3 per cent to $72.3 billion in April, mainly on higher sales of motor vehicle parts (+25.1 per cent) and petroleum and coal products (+4.3 per cent). This was the second consecutive monthly increase for the sector. Sales in the primary metal industry (-5.4 per cent) declined the most. On a year-over-year basis, total sales were down 1.6 per cent in April, reported Statistics Canada on Thursday.
Kateryna Babaieva
Sales in constant dollars rose 0.8 per cent in April, indicating a higher volume of goods sold. The industrial product price index fell 0.2 per cent in April, added the federal agency.
“Following a 1.7 per cent increase in March, sales of motor vehicle parts increased 25.1 per cent to $3.8 billion in April, the highest level on record. The gains were mainly attributable to a significant increase in sales of engines and other motor vehicle parts in Ontario leading to increased exports of motor vehicle engines and motor vehicle parts (+10.0 per cent). With the gain in April, sales in the motor vehicle parts industry were 41.0 per cent higher compared with April 2022. As the supply chain issues continue to ease, transportation equipment manufacturers were able to increase production in the first four months of 2023 compared with the same months a year earlier to meet market demands and reduce order backlogs,” said StatsCan.
“Sales in the petroleum and coal industry increased 4.3 per cent in April, following two consecutive monthly declines. The increase in sales was driven by higher volumes (+6.0 per cent) as prices for refined petroleum energy products (including liquid biofuels) declined 2.6 per cent in April. Higher petroleum sales in Ontario along with higher production in British Columbia following a maintenance shutdown in previous months contributed the most to the increase in April. Exports of refined petroleum energy products (including liquid biofuels) rose 7.6 per cent in April.
“Primary metal sales decreased 5.4 per cent to $5.7 billion in April on declines in all primary metal industries, led by the non-ferrous metal (except aluminum) production and processing (-25.5 per cent) and iron and steel mills and ferro-alloy manufacturing (-16.8 per cent) industries. Real sales in the primary metal industry were down 5.8 per cent. While higher demands for precious metals impacted prices of gold (+3.0 per cent) and silver (+12.3 per cent) in April, an unexpected contraction in manufacturing activities in China due to a lack of global demand led to the decrease in primary metal sales. Year-over-year sales in the primary metal industry declined 11.6 per cent in April.”
The report said total inventory levels were unchanged at $123.8 billion in April and the inventory-to-sales ratio decreased from 1.72 in March to 1.71 in April. This ratio measures the time, in months, that would be required to exhaust inventories if sales were to remain at their current level. It also said total unfilled orders edged down 0.2 per cent to $106.2 billion in April.
Mario Toneguzzi
(Mario Toneguzzi is Managing Editor of Canada’s Podcast. He has more than 40 years of experience as a daily newspaper writer, columnist, and editor. He worked for 35 years at the Calgary Herald, covering sports, crime, politics, health, faith, city and breaking news, and business. He works as well as a freelance writer for several national publications and as a consultant in communications and media relations/training. Mario was named in 2021 as one of the Top 10 Business Journalists in the World by PR News – the only Canadian to make the list)
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