(Ottawa) Canadian manufacturing sales rose 2.6% to $63.1 billion in November, even as flooding in British Columbia disrupted more than a quarter of factories across Canada, it said. Monday Statistics Canada.
Updated yesterday at 1:20 p.m.
The overall sales growth was the second to occur in as many months, with sales up in 18 of 21 industries surveyed by the federal agency, she said.
“The strong sales advance in November came despite the impact of flooding in British Columbia,” said Andrew Grantham, senior economist at CIBC Capital Markets.
The November floods in British Columbia disrupted supply chains in Western Canada, due to the closures of highways they caused and damage to rail links in Vancouver.
According to Statistics Canada, 28.1% of manufacturing plants were affected across the country in November, mainly due to transportation disruptions and shortages of raw materials.
“Respondents often mentioned delays in shipments of products or raw materials, increased logistics costs and limited access to sites,” explained Statistics Canada.
Sales lost due to flooding totaled 372.1 million in November, the agency calculated.
Overall, primary metal manufacturing sales rose 5.8% to a record 5.8 billion in November, while petroleum and coal industry sales rose 3.7%. % to reach 7.2 billion, also a record.
Sales in the non-metallic minerals industry also rose 10.4% to 1.5 billion in November, while sales of motor vehicles rose 2.6% to 3.2 billion and parts for motor vehicles increased by 5.1% to 2.4 billion.
Expressed in constant dollars, manufacturing sales rose 1.9% in November, reflecting a higher volume of goods sold.