June manufacturing sales see decline

Manufacturing sales dipped by 1.7% to $71.5 billion in June, reflecting a widespread reduction across 14 out of 21 subsectors. According to Statistics Canada, significant decreases were observed in the petroleum and coal product (-8.3%), chemical (-6.5%), and machinery (-5.5%) subsectors. Conversely, motor vehicle sales marked an 11.4% increase, reaching $5.6 billion in June. On a quarterly basis, total sales experienced a 0.8% decline during the second quarter of 2023, primarily due to reduced sales in the petroleum and coal product (-8.1%) and primary metal (-8.9%) subsectors. Year over year, total sales for June exhibited a 1.4% decrease.

In terms of constant dollars, June saw a 1% decrease in total sales, suggesting a reduced volume of goods sold. The Industrial Product Price Index also dropped by 0.6%. Manufacturing sales dwindled in five provinces in June, with Alberta and Ontario experiencing the most significant declines, while sales in Quebec demonstrated an increase.

Total inventory levels slightly increased by 0.3% to $123.2 billion in June, driven by higher inventories in nine out of 21 subsectors. The inventory-to-sales ratio, indicating the duration in months required to exhaust inventories if sales remained constant, rose from 1.69 in May to 1.72 in June. 

Unfilled orders' total value experienced a slight 0.2% rise, reaching $104.5 billion in June, primarily due to increased orders for motor vehicles and electrical equipment, appliances, and components.