Canadian manufacturing sales fell 2.1% to C$69.9 billion in March, driven by lower sales in petroleum and coal products (-8.0%) and motor vehicles (-7.9%). The machinery subsector saw a notable rise of 2.9% to C$4.5 billion, according to Statistics Canada.
Sales in constant dollars also decreased by 2.0%, indicating a lower volume of goods sold amidst a 0.8% rise in the Industrial Product Price Index. Quarterly figures showed a 0.9% decline in total manufacturing sales, largely due to reduced sales in transportation equipment (-3.0%) and primary metals (-4.4%).
Wood products see capacity utilization rise
Sales of wood products in March 2024 increased by 1.9% to C$3.97 billion from C$3.895 billion in February, although this was a 7.7% decline from C$4.302 billion in March 2023. The capacity utilization rate for the wood product manufacturing sector jumped 5.3 percentage points to 80.6% in March, almost matching the 80.7% rate from March 2023.
Petroleum and coal products see significant drop
After a 5.7% rise in February, sales of petroleum and coal products plummeted 8.0% to C$8.0 billion in March, with volumes down 6.1%. Exports of these products decreased by 5.8%, despite a 1.8% price increase. Quarterly sales edged down 0.3%.
Machinery sales rebound
Machinery sales rose 2.9% to C$4.5 billion, reversing three months of declines. This growth was driven by gains in all machinery industry groups, notably commercial and service industry machinery (+41.6%). Quarterly machinery sales increased 0.5%.
Inventories steady
Inventories remained steady at C$121.0 billion in March. A 2.3% rise in goods in process was offset by declines in raw materials (-0.7%) and finished products (-0.7%). Aerospace products saw the largest inventory increase (+3.6%), while computer and electronic products saw the largest decline (-10.1%).
Unfilled orders fell 0.8% to C$104.8 billion after three months of gains, with railroad rolling stock contributing significantly to the decline. The capacity utilization rate decreased from 78.3% in February to 78.0% in March, with declines in petroleum and coal (-3.3 points), chemical products (-2.0 points), and fabricated metals (-3.0 points), partially offset by a rise in wood products (+5.3 points).
