Monthly Survey of Manufacturing

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June 2011 (Previous release)

Manufacturing sales fell 1.5% (-$713 million) in June to $45.3 billion, the lowest level since November 2010. Sales have declined for three consecutive months after growing steadily since May 2009.

Constant dollar manufacturing sales were down 1.6% in June.

Sales of durable goods declined 1.9% in June, while sales of non-durable goods were 1.2% lower. In particular, sales were down in the petroleum and coal product, miscellaneous, and machinery industries.

Lower sales were reported in 15 of 21 industries, representing 77.5% of total manufacturing. In June, six provinces reported declines.

Manufacturing sales decline for third month

Chart description: Manufacturing sales decline for third month

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.

Petroleum and coal sales behind much of June's decrease

Sales of petroleum and coal products fell 6.6% in June to $5.8 billion. The decrease reflected price declines of 2.6% and lower volumes as a result of ongoing shutdowns for retooling at various plants.

Miscellaneous manufacturing sales fell 16.1% in June after rising 2.4% in May. The decline mainly reflected a drop in sales by manufacturers of jewellery and silverware.

Machinery manufacturing sales declined 4.2% in June after a 7.8% increase in May. Despite the drop, machinery sales remained strong and have risen in 14 of the past 17 months.

On the upside, sales in the chemical industry rose 5.8%, reflecting gains in the pesticide, fertilizer and other agricultural chemical industry.

Manufacturing sales decline in most provinces

Manufacturing sales were down in six provinces in June, with Ontario, Quebec, and Newfoundland and Labrador reporting the largest sales decreases.

In Ontario, sales fell 2.0% as 17 of 21 industries reported declines. The greatest decreases came in the miscellaneous, food, and transportation equipment industries.

Sales in Quebec declined 1.6% in June, as a result of decreases in petroleum and coal products, primary metals, and computer and electronic products. Increases in food and machinery sales partially offset the declines.

Sales in Newfoundland and Labrador fell 26.9% in June, as a result of declines in non-durable goods. It was the third consecutive monthly decline.

Manitoba posted the largest sales growth in June, up 3.9%. The increase was driven by advances in the chemical, primary metal, and machinery industries.

Inventory levels flat for June

After eight consecutive months of growth, inventory levels were unchanged in June, remaining at their highest level since April 2009.

Increased inventories were reported by manufacturers in the machinery (+2.2%), food (+2.1%) and miscellaneous (+5.1%) industries.

These increases were offset by declines in the petroleum and coal product (-3.6%) and chemical (-1.8%) industries.

Inventory levels flat in June

Chart description: Inventory levels flat in June

The inventory-to-sales ratio increased from 1.37 in May to 1.39 in June, the highest level since December 2009. The ratio has been rising steadily since January 2011.

 The inventory-to-sales ratio increases

Chart description: The inventory-to-sales ratio increases

Unfilled orders rise again

Unfilled orders advanced 3.4% in June to $58.9 billion, the sixth consecutive monthly increase.

The increase in unfilled orders was concentrated in the aerospace product and parts industry (+6.9%). This increase partly reflected the depreciation of the Canadian dollar. Excluding the aerospace industry, unfilled orders increased 0.4% to $30.4 billion.

The largest decrease occurred in the primary metal industry, where unfilled orders fell 9.1% from May.

Unfilled orders advance for sixth month

Chart description: Unfilled orders advance for sixth month

New orders increased 1.6% in June to $47.3 billion, led by gains in the aerospace product and parts industry. The increase was partially offset by declines in petroleum and coal product, primary metal and miscellaneous goods.

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 July Monthly Survey of Manufacturing will be released on September 15.

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.