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Wholesale trade

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May 2009 (Previous release)

Wholesale sales in current dollars fell 0.3% to $40.1 billion in May, its lowest level since December 2005. In volume terms, wholesale sales were unchanged in May. Weaker sales in the machinery and equipment, food, and metal products trade groups were the major factors contributing to the decrease during the month. With May's decline, wholesale sales have fallen for eight consecutive months.

Wholesale sales continue to decrease

In current dollars, four of the seven sectors, accounting for just over half of total wholesale sales, declined in May.

Sales in the machinery and electronic equipment sector fell 0.2% in May. Almost half of this sector is accounted for by the machinery and equipment trade group, which declined 2.3%. Sales in this trade group have declined almost 20% since their September 2008 peak.

Note to readers

Wholesale sales in volume 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 have an important influence on the prices of goods bought and sold by wholesalers.

The wholesale sales series in chained (2002) dollars is a chained Fisher volume index with 2002 as the reference year.

The food, beverage and tobacco products sector declined 1.2% in May. This was due to lower sales in food products, which account for about 90% of the sector.

Wholesale sales in the building materials sector rose 0.1%, as increases in building supplies offset declines in metal products.

Sales of building supplies rose 2.8% in May after declining 3.4% in April. This coincides with an increase in housing starts as reported by the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation.

In contrast, sales in the metal products trade group were down 7.7%, the seventh consecutive monthly decrease. The economic slowdown, and, in particular, the drop in activity in the oil and gas industry, have been major contributors to lower sales since the latter part of 2008.

Largest declines in the West

In dollar terms, Alberta posted the largest decline in May. The 2.5% sales decrease for Alberta's wholesalers was attributable primarily to weakness in the machinery and electronic equipment and "other products" sectors. These two sectors make up close to half of wholesale sales in Alberta. Sales in the province have declined every month since November 2008.

In Manitoba, sales declined 2.1% in May. Lower sales in the "other products" sector were behind much of the decrease for the month.

The only western province to show an increase was British Columbia, where sales rose 1.0%.

Ontario and Quebec, which account for about 70% of Canada's total wholesale sales, both saw increases of 0.1%. In Quebec, higher sales in the personal and household goods and automotive products sectors contributed to the advance. This follows eight consecutive months of declines.

Inventories fall again

Wholesale inventories (-0.8%) fell for the third month in a row to $57.2 billion in May.

Overall, 11 of the 15 wholesale trade groups reported lower inventory levels. The largest declines in dollar terms were in "other products" (-3.0%), metal products (-2.5%), household and personal products (-1.5%) and pharmaceuticals (-1.2%). These decreases were partly offset by higher inventories in motor vehicles (+1.0%) and motor vehicle parts and accessories (+1.0%).

The sharper decline in inventories than in sales translated into a decrease in the inventory-to-sales ratio from 1.44 in April to 1.43 in May.

The inventory-to-sales ratio is a measure of the time in months required to exhaust inventories if sales were to remain at their current level.

The inventory-to-sales ratio declines in May

Available on CANSIM: tables 081-0007 to 081-0010.

Definitions, data sources and methods: survey number 2401.

The May 2009 issue of Wholesale Trade (63-008-X, free) will soon be available.

Wholesale trade data for June will be released on August 20.

To obtain data or general information, 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 Steve Chadder (613-951-0303; steve.chadder@statcan.gc.ca), Distributive Trades Division.

Table 1

Wholesale merchants' inventories and inventory-to-sales ratio
  May 2008 February 2009r March 2009r April 2009r May 2009p April to May 2009 May 2008 to May 2009 April 2009r May 2009p
  Wholesale inventories Inventory-to-sales ratio
  Seasonally adjusted
  $ millions % change    
Inventories 54,897 58,641 58,473 57,713 57,243 -0.8 4.3 1.44 1.43
Farm products 186 176 186 177 169 -4.2 -8.9 0.37 0.36
Food products 4,406 4,661 4,741 4,634 4,637 0.1 5.3 0.63 0.63
Alcohol and tobacco 361 429 439 418 422 1.0 16.9 0.52 0.52
Apparel 1,775 2,066 2,053 2,042 2,022 -1.0 13.9 2.61 2.54
Household and personal products 4,085 4,039 4,009 3,915 3,856 -1.5 -5.6 1.51 1.49
Pharmaceuticals 3,812 4,097 4,085 4,123 4,072 -1.2 6.8 1.23 1.19
Motor vehicles 4,244 4,077 4,146 3,985 4,027 1.0 -5.1 0.98 0.99
Motor vehicle parts and accessories 3,273 3,330 3,329 3,399 3,433 1.0 4.9 2.29 2.33
Building supplies 5,996 6,467 6,329 6,238 6,220 -0.3 3.7 1.81 1.76
Metal products 2,813 3,258 3,160 3,074 2,998 -2.5 6.5 2.68 2.84
Lumber and millwork 1,060 1,010 969 962 955 -0.7 -9.8 1.36 1.36
Machinery and equipment 11,398 12,532 12,693 12,605 12,573 -0.3 10.3 2.88 2.95
Computer and other electronic equipment 1,744 1,747 1,692 1,595 1,565 -1.9 -10.3 0.64 0.62
Office and professional equipment 2,734 2,967 2,904 2,925 2,902 -0.8 6.1 1.43 1.39
Other products 7,010 7,786 7,738 7,621 7,392 -3.0 5.4 1.51 1.49
revised
preliminary
Note(s):
Figures may not add up to totals due to rounding.

Table 2

Wholesale merchants' sales
  May 2008 February 2009r March 2009r April 2009r May 2009p April to May 2009 May 2008 to May 2009
  Seasonally adjusted
  $ millions % change
Total, wholesale sales 44,490 40,674 40,489 40,207 40,097 -0.3 -9.9
Farm products 465 471 475 481 468 -2.7 0.7
Food, beverages and tobacco products 7,749 8,111 8,229 8,222 8,123 -1.2 4.8
Food products 6,934 7,330 7,460 7,411 7,311 -1.3 5.4
Alcohol and tobacco 815 781 769 811 812 0.2 -0.4
Personal and household goods 6,720 6,748 6,714 6,730 6,807 1.2 1.3
Apparel 811 814 796 783 797 1.9 -1.7
Household and personal products 2,761 2,629 2,568 2,595 2,592 -0.1 -6.1
Pharmaceuticals 3,148 3,304 3,351 3,352 3,418 2.0 8.6
Automotive products 7,065 5,295 5,433 5,532 5,542 0.2 -21.6
Motor vehicles 5,529 3,794 3,935 4,049 4,070 0.5 -26.4
Motor vehicle parts and accessories 1,536 1,501 1,498 1,483 1,472 -0.7 -4.2
Building materials 6,297 5,688 5,504 5,295 5,300 0.1 -15.8
Building supplies 3,837 3,600 3,567 3,444 3,540 2.8 -7.8
Metal products 1,554 1,316 1,209 1,145 1,057 -7.7 -32.0
Lumber and millwork 905 772 729 705 703 -0.3 -22.3
Machinery and electronic equipment 9,731 9,155 9,022 8,898 8,882 -0.2 -8.7
Machinery and equipment 4,840 4,517 4,401 4,370 4,268 -2.3 -11.8
Computer and other electronic equipment 2,869 2,578 2,582 2,489 2,533 1.8 -11.7
Office and professional equipment 2,022 2,059 2,038 2,039 2,081 2.1 2.9
Other products 6,463 5,208 5,112 5,050 4,975 -1.5 -23.0
Total, excluding automobiles 37,425 35,380 35,056 34,675 34,555 -0.3 -7.7
Sales, province and territory              
Newfoundland and Labrador 257 292 283 291 294 0.9 14.6
Prince Edward Island 39 37 40 37 37 -1.5 -5.9
Nova Scotia 595 598 579 566 564 -0.3 -5.2
New Brunswick 443 442 456 445 429 -3.8 -3.3
Quebec 8,295 8,023 7,991 7,953 7,960 0.1 -4.0
Ontario 21,733 19,323 19,566 19,485 19,504 0.1 -10.3
Manitoba 1,130 1,117 1,168 1,082 1,059 -2.1 -6.3
Saskatchewan 1,725 1,502 1,394 1,340 1,331 -0.7 -22.8
Alberta 5,811 5,240 5,070 4,980 4,853 -2.5 -16.5
British Columbia 4,393 4,018 3,883 3,964 4,005 1.0 -8.8
Yukon 12 11 11 12 11 -4.9 -7.5
Northwest Territories 52 54 45 47 45 -5.7 -13.4
Nunavut 5 19 4 5 7 35.1 21.8
revised
preliminary
Note(s):
Figures may not add up to totals due to rounding.