(Ottawa) Canadian manufacturing sales advanced 4.2% to $67.7 billion in February as automakers ramped up output even as the industry faced protests, including the closure of the bridge Ambassador between Canada and the United States, as well as the shortage of semiconductors.
Updated yesterday at 4:35 p.m.
Overall, 14 of the 21 industries studied by Statistics Canada saw their sales increase. It was the fifth consecutive month of increases for manufacturers’ sales, the federal agency said on Thursday.
The overall increase came as motor vehicle sales soared 25.0% to 3.7 billion in February, to their highest level since January 2021, even as some railroad crossings between Canada and the United States was temporarily blocked by those protesting pandemic-related health restrictions.
According to Statistics Canada, these blockades contributed to a 5.0% decline in exports of motor vehicles and parts in February.
Paul Ashworth, chief economist for North America at Capital Economics, pointed out that the February figures were much better than expected, even if the paralysis at the key border crossing the Ambassador Bridge weighed on exports.
“Admittedly, price gains played a role in the nominal gain in sales, with producer prices increasing by 3.1%, but sales volumes still increased by 2.2%, which was more that reversed the decline linked to Omicron in January,” Mr. Ashworth wrote in a report.
According to Statistics Canada, the protests had an impact for about 17.7% of manufacturing plants, with 13.2% reporting disruptions in transportation and 8.3% reporting shortages of raw materials.
In addition to the increase in the motor vehicle sector, sales of food products increased by 5.3% thanks to grains and oilseeds, and meat products, while sales in the petroleum and coal industry increased by 6.7%, largely due to higher prices.
Sales of wood products rose 8.5% to $4.5 billion in February.
Meanwhile, in a separate report, Statistics Canada said wholesale sales fell 0.4% to 78.8 billion in February, their first decline since July 2021.
Sales of personal and household goods fell 5.1% to 11.4 billion in February, while those of building materials and supplies fell 2.8% to 13.7 billion.
Sales in the motor vehicle and motor vehicle parts and accessories subsector fell 1.9% in February to $11.0 billion.
Expressed in volume, wholesale sales fell 1.4% in February.
Note to readers: Corrected version. Motor vehicle manufacturers’ sales jumped 25.0%, not 20.5% as erroneously reported in a previous release.