In February, Canada's manufacturing sector saw a modest increase in sales, climbing 0.7% to reach $71.6 billion. This growth was supported by improved sales in 13 out of 21 subsectors, particularly in petroleum and coal products, which surged 4.3%, and electrical equipment, which jumped an impressive 12.6%. However, the chemical subsector faced a notable setback, with sales dropping by 5.5%.
The overall slight uptick in sales volume, adjusted for price changes, was just 0.1%, indicating that higher prices played a significant role in the sales increase. The Industrial Product Price Index reflected this inflationary trend, also rising by 0.7% during the same period.
In February 2024, sales in the wood product industry slightly decreased by 0.2% from January, totaling CAD 3,062 million, yet reflected a modest annual growth of 1.6% compared to February 2023. This sector continues to demonstrate stability amid fluctuating market conditions.
Conversely, the paper manufacturing sector saw a slight recovery in February 2024, with sales rising by 0.7% to CAD 2,607 million from the previous month. However, this figure marks a significant decrease of 9.3% on a year-over-year basis, underscoring ongoing challenges within the industry.
Manufacturing inventories contracted by 0.7% to $120.6 billion, marking the third consecutive month of declines. The inventory-to-sales ratio also tightened slightly, indicating a quicker turnover of goods. Unfilled orders, however, edged up by 0.8% to $105.1 billion, largely due to a 1.2% rise in aerospace product orders.
The sector's capacity utilization improved from 77.0% in January to 78.1% in February, with notable increases in machinery, transportation equipment, and food subsectors. This rise suggests a potential ramp-up in production activities, despite challenges in certain areas like primary metals and paper products.
The wood product manufacturing sector saw an increase in its utilization rate, climbing from 70.5% in January 2024 to 72.4% in February 2024, marking a 1.9 percentage point rise. Despite this monthly improvement, the sector still shows a decline of 3.6 percentage points year-over-year from February 2023.
In contrast, the paper manufacturing industry experienced a decrease in February 2024, dropping 1.9 percentage points to 81.7% from 83.6% in January 2024. However, when comparing year-over-year data, there is a slight increase of 0.2 percentage points from February 2023, suggesting some level of stabilization in the sector.
