MNI 5 THINGS:Canadian Manufacturing Sales +0.2% in September>

--5 Things We Learned From the Canadian Monthly Manufacturing Survey

By Courtney Tower

     OTTAWA (MNI) - The following are the key points from the September 

data on Canadian manufacturing sales released Friday by Statistics 

Canada: 

     - Manufacturing sales increased 0.2% to C$58.5 billion in 

September, slightly more than the 0.1% gain expected by analysts in a 

MNI survey. Sales for August, however, were revised down to -0.5% from 

-0.4%. In addition, in constant dollars, manufacturing sales contracted 

0.1%, indicating lower volumes. Still, sales rose 2.0% over the third 

quarter, for a 1.4% increase in volume terms. The quarterly gain in real 

sales was the largest since the first quarter 2017. 

     - Sales increased in eight of 21 industries representing 48.5% of 

total manufacturing in Canada. Higher sales for motor vehicles and parts 

were largely offset by declines in machinery and wood product 

industries. Auto sales were up 6.1% (+4.8% in volume), as production 

ramped up following assembly plant shutdowns in July and August. Sales 

excluding autos and parts fell 0.5% on the month but were still up 2.4% 

in the third quarter. Petroleum and coal product sales rose +0.9%, with 

volumes up 0.1%. 

     - Machinery sales, on the other hand, dropped 6.2% following four 

consecutive monthly increases. The decreases for the sector were fairly 

widespread. Also leading the downside was wood product sales, down for 

the fourth consecutive month. They declined 2.9%. 

     - Inventories rose by 0.3% from August, leaving the 

inventory-to-sales ratio unchanged at 1.44. Forward looking indicators 

were mixed, with new orders down 0.3% in September, and unfilled orders 

up 0.4%, marking the eighth consecutive monthly gain. 

     - The unadjusted capacity utilization rate edged down 0.6 

percentage points to 80.0% in September on widespread declines led by 

the wood products industry where the rate fell from 83.9% in August to 

72.9% in September. The declines were attributed to lower orders as 

demand and construction starts declined in both Canada and the United 

States. 

--MNI Ottawa Bureau; email: yali.ndiaye@marketnews.com         

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