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Monthly manufacturing shipments
Jayson Myers/ Plant Newspaper
Monthly manufacturing shipments
Manufacturers and exporters across most of Canada had a tough 2006. The value of goods they produced and shipped edged down 0.5% from a peak in the previous year to $587.4 billion. Selling prices rose by an average one per cent. After taking price fluctuations into account, shipments volume fell by 1.6% (about $9 billion) to a level last seen in 2003. (Chart 1)
Conditions were uneven across the country. Manufacturing was booming in the Prairies last year. Shipments grew by 6.9% in Alberta, 5.1% in Manitoba and 4.3% in Saskatchewan. Their value was up 3% in Quebec, 2.4% in BC and in PEI. But shipments were off by 4.1% in Ontario, which accounts for about half of all manufacturing activity in Canada; by 9.2% in Newfoundland and Labrador; by 5.4% in Nova Scotia; and by 1.1% in New Brunswick. (Chart 2)
Some sectors performed much better than others. Primary metals recorded double-digit shipments growth while petroleum refining, machinery, and advanced instrumentation sectors grew by more than five per cent. However, significant declines were recorded in the beverage and tobacco products, clothing and textiles, wood products, paper, computer and electronics and automotive sectors. (Charts 3 & 4)
Export patterns
Canada’s export performance was stronger than manufacturing’s performance. The current dollar value of our merchandise exports rose 1.1% from 2005 to a record high of $458.2 billion. In volume terms, export shipments increased by 1.6% last year, indicating a 0.6% decline in overall export prices. Canada’s exports of agricultural goods, machinery and equipment and industrial materials all rose. Energy exports, on the other hand, were relatively flat with gains in crude petroleum exports offset by a decline in exports of natural gas.
Canada’s exports to the US fell 2% last year, largely because of weakness in the automotive and wood products industries. Automotive exports, primarily to the US, slumped 6% from 2005, while forestry exports were down 8.6 per cent. Exports to other countries jumped 15% led primarily by sales of wood pulp, primary metals, and aerospace products to the emerging economies of China (up 7.8%), India (up 54%), Russia (up 50%) and Brazil (up 21%).
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