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Wholesale trade
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Wholesale sales declined 0.3% to $43.9 billion in June, with four of the seven wholesale subsectors posting declines.
In volume terms, wholesale sales were down 0.1% in June.
The largest decrease came in the machinery, equipment and supplies subsector, which fell 2.3% to $8.9 billion in June. Declines were reported in all four industries in this subsector, with the other machinery, equipment and supplies industry (-4.5%) posting the largest drop.
Note to readers
All the data in this release are seasonally adjusted and in current dollars, unless otherwise noted.
Wholesale trade sales expressed in volume 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 the 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.
Starting with the April 21, 2010 release of February 2010 data, the presentation of results makes direct use of the North American Industry Classification System instead of its trade group variant (see concordance table).
The building material and supplies subsector fell 2.0%, posting its second monthly decrease since August 2009. All three of its component industries declined, with the largest decrease in metal service centres (-4.9%).
The largest increase in dollar terms for the month was in the miscellaneous subsector (+3.2%), which includes agricultural supplies, non-agricultural chemicals, paper products, and recycled materials industries. This increase was largely attributable to agricultural supplies, which rose 18.0% in June following a 28.6% decline in May.
Wholesale sales down in most provinces
Wholesale sales were down in seven provinces in June, with Quebec and British Columbia accounting for most of the decline.
Quebec (-1.2%) registered the largest provincial decline in dollar terms, posting its first decrease in three months. Despite the decline in June, sales were 4.3% higher than in June 2009.
Wholesale sales in British Columbia fell 2.4% in June, following a 5.2% increase in May.
In Saskatchewan, sales declined 1.9%, the third consecutive decrease. Lower sales in the machinery, equipment and supplies subsector contributed to the decline.
Alberta (+1.6%) posted the largest sales increase, following a 1.2% decline in May.
Ontario, which accounts for approximately half of total wholesale sales, edged up 0.1% in June, posting its fourth consecutive increase.
Inventories grow for the fourth time in five months
Wholesale trade inventories climbed 0.6% to $52.7 billion in June, their highest level since September 2009.
Overall, 13 of the 25 wholesale trade industries reported higher inventory levels.
Wholesalers of motor vehicles, agricultural supplies, and food posted the biggest inventory gains in dollar terms.
The largest inventory decreases in dollar terms came in pharmaceuticals and pharmacy supplies, and the other machinery, equipment and supplies industries.
The growth in inventories, combined with the decline in sales, translated into an increase in the inventory-to-sales ratio from 1.19 in May to 1.20 in June.
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.
Available on CANSIM: tables 081-0011 to 081-0013.
Definitions, data sources and methods: survey number 2401.
The June 2010 issue of Wholesale Trade (63-008-X, free) will soon be available.
Wholesale trade data for July will be released on September 20.
To obtain data, or for more 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
| June 2009 | May 2010r | June 2010p | May to June 2010 | June 2009 to June 2010 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Seasonally adjusted | |||||
| $ millions | % change | ||||
| Total, wholesale sales | 40,779 | 44,077 | 43,938 | -0.3 | 7.7 |
| Total, excluding motor vehicle and parts wholesalers | 34,701 | 36,739 | 36,447 | -0.8 | 5.0 |
| Farm product | 478 | 547 | 565 | 3.2 | 18.1 |
| Food, beverage and tobacco | 8,049 | 8,522 | 8,437 | -1.0 | 4.8 |
| Food | 7,134 | 7,608 | 7,495 | -1.5 | 5.1 |
| Beverage | 406 | 392 | 413 | 5.4 | 1.8 |
| Cigarette and tobacco product | 509 | 523 | 528 | 1.1 | 3.8 |
| Personal and household goods | 6,954 | 7,037 | 6,979 | -0.8 | 0.4 |
| Textile, clothing and footwear | 814 | 885 | 904 | 2.2 | 11.1 |
| Home entertainment equipment and household appliance | 718 | 700 | 693 | -1.0 | -3.5 |
| Home furnishings | 477 | 488 | 500 | 2.4 | 4.7 |
| Personal goods | 898 | 823 | 824 | 0.1 | -8.3 |
| Pharmaceuticals and pharmacy supplies | 3,416 | 3,460 | 3,433 | -0.8 | 0.5 |
| Toiletries, cosmetics and sundries | F | 681 | 626 | -8.0 | F |
| Motor vehicle and parts | 6,079 | 7,337 | 7,490 | 2.1 | 23.2 |
| Motor vehicle | 4,485 | 5,766 | 5,868 | 1.8 | 30.8 |
| New motor vehicle parts and accessories | 1,550 | 1,530 | 1,579 | 3.3 | 1.9 |
| Used motor vehicle parts and accessories | F | 42 | 43 | 1.0 | F |
| Building material and supplies | 5,414 | 6,277 | 6,149 | -2.0 | 13.6 |
| Electrical, plumbing, heating and air-conditioning equipment and supplies | 1,808 | 1,972 | 1,965 | -0.4 | 8.7 |
| Metal service centres | 999 | 1,284 | 1,220 | -4.9 | 22.2 |
| Lumber, millwork, hardware and other building supplies | 2,607 | 3,021 | 2,964 | -1.9 | 13.7 |
| Machinery, equipment and supplies | 8,630 | 9,114 | 8,907 | -2.3 | 3.2 |
| Farm, lawn and garden machinery and equipment | 1,123 | 972 | 953 | -2.0 | -15.2 |
| Construction, forestry, mining, and industrial machinery, equipment and supplies | 2,484 | 2,880 | 2,844 | -1.3 | 14.5 |
| Computer and communications equipment and supplies | 2,607 | 2,948 | 2,901 | -1.6 | 11.3 |
| Other machinery, equipment and supplies | 2,416 | 2,314 | 2,210 | -4.5 | -8.5 |
| Miscellaneous | 5,176 | 5,242 | 5,411 | 3.2 | 4.5 |
| Recyclable material | 453 | 628 | 570 | -9.3 | 25.8 |
| Paper, paper product and disposable plastic product | 644 | 678 | 659 | -2.8 | 2.4 |
| Agricultural supplies | 1,273 | 1,032 | 1,218 | 18.0 | -4.3 |
| Chemical (except agricultural) and allied product | 950 | 985 | 995 | 1.0 | 4.8 |
| Other miscellaneous | 1,857 | 1,919 | 1,969 | 2.6 | 6.0 |
Table 2
| June 2009 | May 2010r | June 2010p | May to June 2010 | June 2009 to June 2010 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Seasonally adjusted | |||||
| $ millions | % change | ||||
| Canada | 40,779 | 44,077 | 43,938 | -0.3 | 7.7 |
| Newfoundland and Labrador | 254 | 295 | 283 | -4.0 | 11.4 |
| Prince Edward Island | 38 | 39 | 38 | -1.4 | 1.2 |
| Nova Scotia | 564 | 662 | 649 | -2.0 | 15.1 |
| New Brunswick | 462 | 497 | 492 | -1.0 | 6.4 |
| Quebec | 8,087 | 8,538 | 8,435 | -1.2 | 4.3 |
| Ontario | 20,364 | 22,683 | 22,708 | 0.1 | 11.5 |
| Manitoba | 1,124 | 1,023 | 1,026 | 0.2 | -8.8 |
| Saskatchewan | 1,294 | 1,322 | 1,297 | -1.9 | 0.2 |
| Alberta | 4,632 | 4,892 | 4,969 | 1.6 | 7.3 |
| British Columbia | 3,898 | 4,060 | 3,961 | -2.4 | 1.6 |
| Yukon | 13 | 12 | 12 | -6.7 | -7.8 |
| Northwest Territories | 47 | 48 | 49 | 2.8 | 5.6 |
| Nunavut | 4 | 6 | 20 | 253.4 | 414.3 |
Table 3
| June 2009 | May 2010r | June 2010p | May to June 2010 | June 2009 to June 2010 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Seasonally adjusted | |||||
| $ millions | % change | ||||
| Inventories | 54,875 | 52,378 | 52,716 | 0.6 | -3.9 |
| Farm product | 161 | 171 | 167 | -2.1 | 4.1 |
| Food | 4,322 | 4,075 | 4,210 | 3.3 | -2.6 |
| Beverage | 241 | 236 | 255 | 8.1 | 5.7 |
| Cigarette and tobacco product | 258 | 234 | 229 | -2.2 | -11.1 |
| Textile, clothing and footwear | 1,788 | 1,700 | 1,647 | -3.2 | -7.9 |
| Home entertainment equipment and household appliance | 819 | 723 | 738 | 2.1 | -9.9 |
| Home furnishings | 961 | 940 | 935 | -0.5 | -2.7 |
| Personal goods | 1,561 | 1,540 | 1,499 | -2.7 | -4.0 |
| Pharmaceuticals and pharmacy supplies | 4,063 | 4,158 | 3,965 | -4.6 | -2.4 |
| Toiletries, cosmetics and sundries | 609 | 613 | 640 | 4.3 | 5.0 |
| Motor vehicle | 3,539 | 3,585 | 3,737 | 4.2 | 5.6 |
| New motor vehicle parts and accessories | 3,193 | 3,005 | 3,026 | 0.7 | -5.2 |
| Used motor vehicle parts and accessories | F | 78 | 76 | -2.0 | F |
| Electrical, plumbing, heating and air-conditioning equipment and supplies | 3,055 | 2,817 | 2,836 | 0.7 | -7.2 |
| Metal service centres | 2,665 | 2,527 | 2,579 | 2.0 | -3.2 |
| Lumber, millwork, hardware and other building supplies | 4,160 | 4,481 | 4,476 | -0.1 | 7.6 |
| Farm, lawn and garden machinery and equipment | 3,242 | 3,081 | 3,150 | 2.2 | -2.9 |
| Construction, forestry, mining, and industrial machinery, equipment and supplies | 7,993 | 7,154 | 7,243 | 1.2 | -9.4 |
| Computer and communications equipment and supplies | 1,510 | 1,560 | 1,591 | 2.0 | 5.4 |
| Other machinery, equipment and supplies | 3,577 | 3,200 | 3,116 | -2.6 | -12.9 |
| Recyclable material | F | 341 | 356 | 4.5 | F |
| Paper, paper product and disposable plastic product | 638 | 591 | 589 | -0.3 | -7.7 |
| Agricultural supplies | 2,736 | 2,428 | 2,568 | 5.8 | -6.2 |
| Chemical (except agricultural) and allied product | 1,113 | 938 | 920 | -1.9 | -17.3 |
| Other miscellaneous | 2,235 | 2,202 | 2,167 | -1.6 | -3.1 |
