February sees a 0.7% increase in Canadian manufacturing sales, led by petroleum and electrical equipment sectors
Canadian manufacturing sales saw a moderate increase of 0.7 percent to $71.6bn in February, driven by gains across 13 of 21 subsectors, according to Statistics Canada.
The rise was predominantly due to a 4.3 percent increase in petroleum and coal sales and a notable 12.6 percent jump in electrical equipment, appliance, and component products.
The petroleum and coal products sector experienced the most significant increase, with sales climbing to $8.7bn.
This was largely attributed to a 5.9 percent hike in prices for refined petroleum energy products, including liquid biofuels, influenced by a 6.1 percent rise in conventional crude oil prices. Despite this monthly growth, the sector's sales were down 1.5 percent compared to the previous year.
In the electrical equipment sector, sales reached a record $1.5bn, the highest ever, with the industry seeing a 0.5 percent price increase and a corresponding rise in exports.
Conversely, the chemical products sector faced a downturn, with sales decreasing by 5.5 percent to $5.3bn in February, mainly due to reduced sales of pesticide, fertilizer, and other agricultural chemical products.
This sector has seen a continuous price drop, with a 0.6 percent decline in February marking the fourth consecutive month of decreases. Year-over-year, sales in this sector fell by 5.7 percent.
Regionally, Quebec led the provinces with a 3.0 percent increase in sales to $18.0bn, boosted significantly by the electrical equipment and aerospace sectors. Alberta followed with a 4.1 percent increase in sales, primarily in the petroleum, coal, and chemical subsectors.
However, Saskatchewan experienced a sharp decline of 12.8 percent due to decreased sales in chemicals and machinery, despite some gains in petroleum and coal.
The report also noted a continued decline in total inventories, which fell by 0.7 percent to $120.6bn, marking the third consecutive monthly decrease. This decline was primarily due to reductions in chemicals and petroleum and coal products.
In terms of orders, the total value of unfilled orders rose by 0.8 percent to $105.1bn, with aerospace products and parts seeing a 1.2 percent increase in unfilled orders.
The capacity utilization rate for the manufacturing sector improved, rising from 77.0 percent in January to 78.1 percent in February, with increases noted in machinery, transportation equipment, and food subsectors.
