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Trends
Manufacturing shipments
The value of goods produced and shipped by Canadian manufacturers rose 0.9% to $52 billion in October 2005—the last month for which statistics are available. The increase was primarily due to a bounce-back in the automotive sector, where shipments of finished vehicles jumped 7.6% after very weak performance the previous month. Excluding motor vehicles, the value of manufacturing shipments remained unchanged.
Manufacturers’ annual rate of inventory turns
Manufacturers’ average rate of inventory turnover increased slightly to 9.5 turns per year in October, an improvement on the spring and summer when turns had fallen to 9.2 on an annualized basis.
Manufacturers’ shipments: revenue and volume growth
While shipments revenue for manufacturers was 3.4% higher in October 2005 than a year previously, the volume of goods shipped (calculated by discounting for price changes) was up by only two per cent. The strongest volume performance on a year-over-year basis was recorded in the computer and electronics, machinery, printing, electrical equipment and transportation equipment sectors.
Change in selling prices
The average selling price of Canadian manufactured goods increased by 1.4% from October 2004 to October 2005; however, that average masks large sectoral differences in pricing. Prices rose 24.6% in the petroleum refining industry; 5.9% in the chemicals sector; and 4.5% in plastics and rubber products. Chemicals, plastics and rubber rely on petroleum-based feedstocks. On the other hand, primary metals, transportation equipment, wood products and paper industries all experienced large price declines.
Trends information is provided by Plant, Canada’s Industrial Newspaper. Source: Jayson Myers, chief economist with Canadian Manufacturers & Exporters. Purchasing b2b and Plant are both published by Rogers Media.
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