According to Statistics Canada, manufacturing sales fell 1.4 percent to $57.3 billion in November, the second consecutive monthly decrease. The decline in November mainly reflected lower sales of petroleum and coal products. Excluding this industry, manufacturing sales rose 0.2 percent.
Sales were down in 13 of 21 industries, representing 45.3 percent of total manufacturing sales. Sales of non-durable goods fell 3.4 percent to $27.2 billion, while sales of durable goods rose 0.5 percent to $30.1 billion.
Partially offsetting the declines were increases in the transportation equipment and food industries. In the transportation equipment industry, sales rose 1.3 percent to $11.0 billion in November, following a 0.7 percent decline in October. The increase in November was mainly due to higher production at aerospace product and parts (+7.7 percent) and railroad rolling stock (+28.6 percent) industries.
Inventory levels fell 0.6 percent to $84.4 billion in November. Inventories were down in 12 of 21 industries, led by the petroleum and coal product (-10.2 percent), machinery (-2.9 percent) and food (-1.3 percent) industries. These decreases were partially offset by a 2.3 percent rise in the primary metal industry.
The inventory-to-sales ratio rose from 1.46 in October to 1.47 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 rose 0.3 percent in November to $96.6 billion, the second consecutive monthly increase. The gain reflected a 0.6 percent increase in the aerospace product and parts industry to $53.3 billion. Unfilled orders in the aerospace product and parts industry represented 55.2 percent of total manufacturing unfilled orders.
Unfilled orders were also up in the computer and electronic product and fabricated metal product industries.
New orders fell 2.9 percent to $57.6 billion, following a 2.4 percent increase in October. The decline in November was mainly the result of lower new orders in the petroleum and coal product, transportation equipment and machinery industries.
The unadjusted capacity utilization rate for the manufacturing sector decreased from 80.5 percent in October to 78.8 percent in November.
Overall, the capacity utilization rate fell in 14 of 21 industries, with the petroleum and coal product and non-metallic mineral product industries posting the largest declines in November.
The capacity utilization rate for the petroleum and coal product industry declined for the fourth consecutive month, down 8.8 percentage points to 70.3 percent in November. Turnarounds and maintenance work at some refineries as well as lower production at other refineries were partly behind the lower capacity utilization rate.
The capacity utilization rate of the electrical equipment, appliance and components industry rose 5.6 percentage points to 82.7 percent in November. The increase was mostly attributable to gains in the household appliance and electrical equipment industries.