Manufacturing sales hold steady

Canadian manufacturing sales increased 0.3% to $72.3 billion in April, mainly on higher sales of motor vehicle parts (+25.1%) and petroleum and coal products (+4.3%), says Statistics Canada. Sales in the primary metal industry (-5.4%) declined the most. Overall manufacturing sales in wood products were $2.8 billion April, down 38.6% compared to manufacturing sales of $4.6 billion in April 2022. On a year-over-year basis, total sales were down 1.6% in April. Manufacturing sales increased in three provinces in April, led by Ontario (+1.9%), while Quebec posted the largest decline (-1.2%). Sales in Ontario were $32.3 billion in April, on higher sales of motor vehicle parts (+26.4%) and petroleum and coal products (+8.4%). The motor vehicle parts industry contributed the most to the higher total sales in Windsor, ON, (+10.4%) in April. In Quebec, sales were $18.1 billion in April, primarily on a 31.7% decrease in the non-ferrous metal (except aluminum) production and processing industry. Quebec has Canada's biggest non-ferrous metal industry which accounts for about 60% of total sales in Canada. Manufacturers reported their total inventory levels were unchanged at $123.8 billion in April. Higher inventory levels of goods in process (+0.3%) were offset by lower levels of raw materials (-0.1%) and finished products (-0.1%). At the industry level, inventories of the primary metal (+1.9%) and machinery (+1.0%) industries rose in April, while inventory levels declined in the paper product (-4.8%) and other transportation equipment (-10.9%) industries. The inventory-to-sales ratio decreased from 1.72 in March to 1.71 in April. This ratio measures the time, in months, that would be required to exhaust inventories if sales were to remain at their current level.