According to Statistics Canada, manufacturing sales decreased 1.0 percent to $54.9 billion in January. Declines in the motor vehicles, the aerospace product and parts, as well as the primary metal industries were responsible for the overall drop.
Overall, sales were down in 14 of 21 industries, representing 56 percent of the Canadian manufacturing sector. Sales of durable goods declined 3.5 percent to $28.2 billion, while sales of non-durable goods increased 1.7 percent to $26.8 billion.
The motor vehicle, aerospace product and parts, and primary metal industries post the largest declines
Sales of motor vehicles fell 8.0 percent to $4.9 billion, following two consecutive monthly increases. The decrease reflected mostly lower production because of atypical assembly plant shutdowns. In constant dollar terms, sales in the motor vehicle industry declined 7.5 percent in January, indicating that the decline in current dollars is mainly due to a reduction in volumes produced.
Production in the aerospace product and parts industry decreased 9.5 percent to $1.6 billion, following 4.4 percent increase in December. The January decline was partly due to the increase in the value of the Canadian dollar relative to the US dollar. Sales and inventories are used to calculate production in the aerospace industry and most inventories in the industry are held in US dollars.
Sales in the primary metal industry fell 2.8 percent to $4.1 billion, the second consecutive monthly decline. In constant dollars, sales in the primary metal industry were down 2.7 percent, indicating lower volumes of products were sold.
Partly offsetting these declines in current dollars were increases in the petroleum and coal product and the chemical industries. Sales in the petroleum and coal product industry were up 6.5 percent to $6.1 billion, the sixth gain in the last seven months and reflecting higher prices. After removing the effect of price changes, the volume of sales rose 2.2 percent in January.
Inventory levels rose 0.9 percent to $76.1 billion in January, the fourth consecutive monthly gain, to reach their highest level since the current series began in 1992.
The largest inventory increase occurred in the petroleum and coal product (+5.7 percent), chemical (+2.3 percent), transportation equipment (+0.9 percent) and computer and electronic product (+5.1 percent) industries.
Partially offsetting the increases was a 2.1 percent decline in inventories in the fabricated metal product industry.
The inventory-to-sales ratio rose from 1.36 in December to 1.39 in January. The inventory-to-sales ratio measures the time, in months, that would be required to exhaust inventories if sales were to remain at their current level.
Unfilled orders rose 0.6 percent to $86.7 billion in January, following two months of declines. Most of the gain came from a 1.6 percent increase in the aerospace product and parts industry. Unfilled orders were also up in the primary metal and in the computer and electronic product industries.
New orders rose for a second consecutive month, edging up 0.1 percent to $55.4 billion in January. The gain mostly reflected an increase in new orders in the aerospace product and parts and in the petroleum and coal product industries.