Monthly Survey of Manufacturing

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September 2011 (Previous release)

Manufacturing sales rose 2.6% to $49.2 billion in September, the third consecutive monthly increase. The gain in September largely reflected higher sales in the petroleum and coal products and transportation equipment industries.

Constant dollar manufacturing sales were up 1.8%, the third monthly gain.

Higher sales were reported in 10 of 21 industries, representing 60.5% of total manufacturing.

Manufacturing sales rise in September for a third consecutive month

 Manufacturing sales rise in September for a third consecutive month

Chart description: Manufacturing sales rise in September for a third consecutive month

Petroleum and coal products industry leads the advances

Sales of petroleum and coal products were up 13.7% to $7.6 billion in September. The increase was the largest in percentage terms since March 1999. The advance partly stemmed from higher volumes reported by some petroleum refineries following shutdowns for maintenance and expansion.

In the transportation equipment industry, sales rose 7.1% to $8.0 billion. The increase reflected gains in the aerospace product and parts, and motor vehicle industries. In the aerospace product and parts industry, production rose 17.0% to $1.6 billion, the highest level since July 2009. Sales in the motor vehicle industry advanced 6.2% to $3.8 billion in September as several plants returned to full production.

Note to readers

All data in this release are seasonally adjusted and are expressed in current dollars unless otherwise specified.

Preliminary data are provided for the current reference month. Revised data, based on late responses, are updated for the three previous months.

Non-durable goods industries include food, beverage and tobacco products, textile mills, textile product mills, clothing, leather and allied products, paper, printing and related support activities, petroleum and coal products, chemicals, and plastics and rubber products.

Durable goods industries include wood products, non-metallic mineral products, primary metal, fabricated metal products, machinery, computer and electronic products, electrical equipment, appliances and components, transportation equipment, furniture and related products and miscellaneous manufacturing.

Production-based industries

For the aerospace industry and shipbuilding industries, the value of production is used instead of sales of goods manufactured. This value is calculated by adjusting monthly sales of goods manufactured by the monthly change in inventories of goods in process and finished products manufactured.

Unfilled orders are a stock of orders that will contribute to future sales assuming that the orders are not cancelled.

New orders are those received whether sold in the current month or not. New orders are measured as the sum of sales for the current month plus the change in unfilled orders from the previous month to the current month.

The increase in September was partly offset by a 3.0% decline in sales in the food industry. Decreases were widespread in the industry. Lower sales were also reported in the miscellaneous industry (-13.3%), stemming from a decline in jewellery and silverware manufacturing.

Manufacturing sales up in most provinces

Stronger manufacturing sales were reported in nine provinces in September. The top contributors in dollar terms were Alberta, Quebec, New Brunswick and Ontario.

Manufacturers in Alberta reported a 5.9% rise in sales to $6.3 billion, the largest percentage increase since May 2008. Gains in September were focused in petroleum and coal products as well as in machinery industries.

Sales in Quebec increased 2.3% to $11.9 billion in September as advances were reported in 12 of 21 industries. Approximately three-quarters of the gain came from the aerospace product and parts industry, which reported a 25.0% increase in production to $1.0 billion.

Sales rose for the third consecutive month in New Brunswick, up 13.3% to $1.9 billion, reflecting substantial gains in the non-durable goods industries.

Manufacturers in Ontario reported a 1.0% increase in sales to $22.1 billion in September. This was the third monthly rise after a 1.1% decline in June. The largest gains occurred in the motor vehicle and petroleum and coal products industries. These gains were partly offset by declines in the miscellaneous and food industries.

Inventory levels up for the 12th straight month

Inventory levels edged up 0.4% to $63.9 billion in September. Inventories have been trending upwards since the spring of 2010 and are at their highest level since March 2009. Gains were reported in 12 of 21 industries.

The main contributors to the rise in inventories in September were a 3.1% increase in the machinery industry and a 4.7% advance in the aerospace product and parts industry. The gains were partly offset by declines in the primary metal, paper, electrical equipment, and petroleum and coal product industries.

Inventory levels up for the 12th straight month

 Inventory levels up for the 12th straight month

Chart description: Inventory levels up for the 12th straight month

The inventory-to-sales ratio declined from 1.33 in August to 1.30 in September, the third consecutive decline. The inventory-to-sales ratio measures the time, in months, that would be required to exhaust inventories if sales were to remain at their current level.

The inventory-to-sales ratio declines

 The inventory-to-sales ratio declines

Chart description: The inventory-to-sales ratio declines

Unfilled orders continue to increase

Unfilled orders rose 3.0% to $62.0 billion in September, the ninth consecutive monthly advance. Unfilled orders were at their highest level since March 2009.

The aerospace product and parts (+3.0%) and the fabricated metal (+9.5%) industries led the gains. The increase in the aerospace product and parts industry largely reflected a decrease in the value of the Canadian dollar relative to the American dollar. A substantial portion of unfilled orders in the industry are held in American dollars.

Unfilled orders continue to increase

 Unfilled orders continue to increase

Chart description: Unfilled orders continue to increase

New orders rose 4.8% to $51.0 billion in September. The gains in new orders were concentrated in the petroleum and coal products, aerospace product and parts, and fabricated metal product industries. They were partly offset by declines in the food and miscellaneous industries.

Available on CANSIM: tables 304-0014, 304-0015 and 377-0008.

Table 304-0014: Canada data (sales, inventories, orders) by industry.

Table 304-0015: Provincial sales by industry.

Table 377-0008: Constant dollar sales, inventories and orders.

Definitions, data sources and methods: survey number 2101.

Data from the October Monthly Survey of Manufacturing will be released on December 14.

For more information, or to order data, contact the dissemination officer (toll-free 1-866-873-8789; 613-951-9497; fax: 613-951-3877; manufact@statcan.gc.ca). To enquire about the concepts, methods or data quality of this release, contact Michael Schimpf (613-951-9832, michael.schimpf@statcan.gc.ca), Manufacturing and Energy Division.