Manufacturing sales in Canada increased by 1.1% to C$70.8 billion in April 2024, following a 1.8% decline in March, driven by higher sales in 12 of 21 subsectors. This overall rise was primarily due to increased sales in transportation equipment, primary metals, and chemical products. According to Statistics Canada, sales in constant dollars rose by 0.4%, indicating a higher volume of goods sold, while the Industrial Product Price Index climbed by 1.5%, marking its third consecutive monthly increase.
The capacity utilization rate for the manufacturing sector remained steady at 78.1% in April, showing a 0.5 percentage point increase from April 2023. Non-durable goods industries saw a decline of 1.5 percentage points to 76.5%, while durable goods industries increased by 1.4 percentage points to 79.6%.
In April 2024, the wood product manufacturing sector experienced a sales decline of 1.6% from March, amounting to C$2,960 million. However, year-over-year, sales increased by 3.2%. The capacity utilization rate in this sector rose by 3.4 percentage points to 80.5%, indicating a strong production capacity compared to April 2023.
Paper manufacturing saw a decrease in sales by 2.9% from March to April, dropping to C$2,491 million. This sector also reported an 11.8% decline compared to April 2023. The capacity utilization rate for paper manufacturing decreased slightly by 2.3 percentage points to 81.6% in April, almost matching the rate from April 2023.
Sales in the furniture and related product manufacturing sector rose by 1.3% from March, reaching C$1,275 million in April. However, this was a 1.5% decline compared to April 2023. The capacity utilization rate in this sector decreased by 2.4 percentage points to 75.1% from March to April, reflecting a 4.0 percentage point drop from April 2023.
