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Jayson Myers
Manufacturing shipments
The value of goods produced and shipped by manufacturers jumped 1.6% in March to $51.4 billion. Shipments were 3% higher than in March 2005, but 1.3% lower than their peak recorded last October.
Shipments by sector
The strongest shipments growth occurred in the leather products, petroleum refining, machinery and non-metallic minerals (building products) sectors. Plastics, printing, primary metals and electronics industries also registered relatively strong growth over the past year.
Shipments by province
Shipments growth has been strongest over the past year in Saskatchewan, Alberta, BC and Quebec. Shipments have fallen in Ontario, Manitoba, New Brunswick and Newfoundland/Labrador.
Outlook for developed countries
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) forecasts the world economy will grow by 4.8% this year. The outlook for the Canadian economy is for 3.1% growth, compared to 3.3% in the US. Japan’s economic recovery is expected to remain fairly strong. Among developed economies, the European Union is expected to underperform this year and next.
Outlook for developing countries
Most developing economies are expected to grow more rapidly than the world average. The growth leaders will be China, India, Singapore, Argentina, Turkey, Russia and the Czech Republic.
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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