Wholesale sales declined 1.7% to $85.6 billion in February as sales fell in five of seven subsectors, reported Statistics Canada on Monday.
The federal agency said the decrease of sales was mainly led by the motor vehicle and motor vehicle parts and accessories and the food, beverage and tobacco subsectors. Excluding motor vehicle and motor vehicle parts and accessories, wholesale sales were down 1.0%. Despite the monthly decrease in the sector, wholesale sales were higher (+7.4%) than in February 2022. Constant dollar sales fell 1.8% in February 2023, it said.
Statistics Canada
“Sales decreased in seven provinces in February, accounting for 87% of national sales. Quebec reported the largest decline, followed by British Columbia and Ontario,” said StatsCan.
“Following two consecutive monthly increases, wholesale sales in Quebec dropped 3.3% to $15.0 billion in February. Sales for this province have declined in 6 of the past 12 months. The February decline marked the largest monthly change since November 2021. While sales fell in three of seven subsectors in February 2023, the largest decrease came from the food, beverage and tobacco subsector (-10.5% to $3.4 billion), followed by lower sales from the motor vehicle and motor vehicle parts and accessories (-8.7%) and the personal and household goods (-3.2%) subsectors.
“Sales in British Columbia dropped 5.1% to $7.8 billion in February after increasing 15.4% in January. With sales down in four of the seven subsectors, building material and supplies led the decline, dropping 12.9% in February. The decline in this subsector was mainly attributable to the lumber, millwork, hardware and other building supplies industry. Production of softwood lumber continued to be curtailed in the province in February. Sales of machinery, equipment and supplies dropped 10.5% in February, after increasing 30.5% in January.
“In Ontario, sales decreased 0.6% to $42.6 billion in February. This marked the first monthly decrease since September 2022. Sales were down in four of seven subsectors in February 2023; the driving force was a 6.1% decline in motor vehicle and motor vehicle parts and accessories.”
The report said wholesale inventories rose 0.8% to $130.2 billion in February, the third consecutive monthly increase. Increased inventories were reported in six of the seven subsectors, led by the machinery, equipment and supplies subsector and the miscellaneous goods subsector.
The inventory-to-sales ratio increased from 1.51 in January to 1.52 in February. This ratio is a measure of the time (in months) required to exhaust inventories if sales were to remain at their current levels, it added.
(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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