According to Statistics Canada, manufacturing sales declined 0.6 percent to $57.0 billion in November, the third consecutive monthly decrease. Lower sales in the primary metal, chemical and food industries were partly offset by higher sales in the transportation and fabricated metal industries.
Sales were down in 11 of 21 industries, representing 55.0 percent of total manufacturing sales. Sales of non-durable goods fell 1.3 percent to $27.0 billion, while sales of durable goods were unchanged.
Sales of primary metals were down 11.7 percent to $3.8 billion in November, the largest monthly decline since December 2008. Many establishments were impacted by the rail transportation disruptions for part of the month. In constant dollars, sales in the industry decreased 11.4 percent.
Sales of fabricated metal products increased 4.7 percent to $3.5 billion following a 5.8 percent drop in October. Constant dollar sales were up 4.8 percent.
Inventory levels increased 0.5 percent to $87.9 billion in November, following two monthly declines. Inventories were up in 11 of 21 industries, led by the paper (+3.9 percent), machinery (+1.3 percent) and fabricated metal product (+1.7 percent) industries. These increases were partly offset by a 5.8 percent decline in the electrical equipment, appliance and component industry.
The inventory-to-sales ratio increased from 1.52 in October to 1.54 in November. This ratio measures the time, in months, that would be required to exhaust inventories if sales were to remain at their current level.
Unfilled orders edged up 0.1 percent to $97.8 billion in November. Overall, unfilled orders were up in 12 of 21 industries, with the largest increases in the aerospace product and parts, machinery, and fabricated metal product industries.
New orders increased 1.9 percent to $57.1 billion following a 4.2 percent decline in October. The increase mostly reflected higher new orders in the transportation equipment industry and, to a lesser extent, in the fabricated metal product industry.
The unadjusted capacity utilization rate for the total manufacturing sector decreased 1.3 percentage points, from 80.5 percent in October to 79.2 percent in November.
The capacity utilization rate declined in 12 of 21 industries, led by wood products (down 12.1 percentage points) and petroleum and coal products (down 3.5 percentage points). A lower rate of production capacity utilization in the transportation equipment, primary metal, and fabricated metal product industries also contributed to the overall decline.