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Wholesale sales increased 1.5% to $46.3 billion in current dollars in September. A partial recovery in the automotive sector, which posted a large decline in August, was a significant factor behind the increase in September.
After removing the impact of price changes, sales in volume terms rose 1.0%.
September's increase in wholesale sales was the seventh in nine months, and follows a period of little or no growth that began in the spring of 2007.
Sales of automotive products rose 6.0% in September to $7.4 billion, erasing almost half of the decline posted in August. The increase was the result of a large jump in sales of motor vehicle parts and accessories (+10.5%), as well as a rise (+4.7%) in the motor vehicles trade group. Despite the increase in September, the automotive sector was the only one to register lower sales on a year-over-year basis.
Excluding the automotive sector, wholesale sales rose by 0.6% in September.
The machinery and electronic equipment sector came in second in terms of growth, up 1.4%. This was largely due to higher sales in the machinery and equipment trade group.
Ontario wholesalers benefit from rebound in sales of automotive products
After posting their sharpest monthly decline in five years in August, Ontario wholesalers benefited from the rise in the automotive products sector to post a 3.8% increase in September.
Sales rose for a sixth consecutive month in Quebec, advancing 1.0% in September. Higher sales in the automotive and "other products" sectors have been the major factor behind the increases over recent months.
Note to readersWholesale sales in real terms are calculated by deflating current dollar values using import and industry product price indexes. Since many of the goods sold by wholesalers are imported, fluctuations in the value of the Canadian dollar can lead to differences between the levels and growth rates when compared with similar estimates presented in current dollars. The wholesale sales series in chained (2002) dollars is a chained Fisher volume index with 2002 as the reference year. |
Every western province reported lower sales in September. The biggest drop was in Saskatchewan (-5.8%), which posted its first decline in sales since February 2008. The decline was mainly due to lower sales in the "other products" sector, which consists primarily of agricultural fertilizers and supplies, chemicals, recycled materials and paper products.
All of the Atlantic provinces, with the exception of Newfoundland and Labrador, posted higher sales in September. New Brunswick in particular benefited from higher sales in the machinery and electronic supplies sector to post a sixth consecutive increase (+5.4%).
A seventh consecutive increase in inventories
In September, wholesale inventories rose for a seventh consecutive month, up 0.7%.
Overall, 11 of the 15 wholesale trade groups reported higher inventory levels. The largest increases came in the metal products (+2.1%), machinery and equipment (+1.5%) and "other products" (+1.1%) trade groups.
The growth in sales compared with inventories led to a decline in the inventory-to-sales ratio from 1.25 in August to 1.24 in September. The inventory-to-sales ratio is a measure of the time, in months, that would be required to exhaust inventories if sales were to remain at their current level.
Available on CANSIM: tables 081-0007 to 081-0010.
Definitions, data sources and methods: survey number 2401.
The September 2008 issue of Wholesale Trade (63-008-XWE, free) will soon be available.
Wholesale trade estimates for October will be released on December 17.
For more information, or to obtain data, contact Client Services (toll-free 1-877-421-3067; 613-951-3549; wholesaleinfo@statcan.gc.ca). To enquire about the concepts, methods or data quality of this release, contact Marc Atkins (613-951-0291; marc.atkins@statcan.gc.ca), Distributive Trades Division.
Table(s).
