More than half of Cnd manufacturing sectors bounce

OTTAWA — Manufacturing sales increased 1.9 percent to $39.7 billion in June, partially reversing the 4.9 percent decline posted the previous month.

Strong sales in the aerospace industry (+61%) and a rise in the price of petroleum and coal products (+7%) largely explain the increase, reports Stats Canada. Excluding both industries, however, Canada’s manufacturing sales would have decreased slightly, by 0.5 percent.

The aerospace industry has been extremely volatile over the past several months as June’s boost reversed a 44.5 percent drop in May.

Non-metallic mineral products (+5.6%), furniture and related products (+4.9%), wood products (+3.5%) and food (+1.4%) were other industries reporting sales increases in June.

Sales were up in 12 of 21 manufacturing industries in June, representing 68 percent of total sales.

Of course, the motor vehicle industry continues to drag total manufacturing sales down, posting another 6 percent drop, following a 20.8 percent drop in May.

Provincial Manufacturing Mixed:

Among the Atlantic provinces, sales rose significantly in Newfoundland and Labrador (+58.0%) and New Brunswick (+7.2%), while Prince Edward Island (-13.2%) and Nova Scotia (-2.8%) saw sales decline.

In Quebec, sales increased 5.7 percent in June, partially reversing an 8.6 percent drop in May, in large part because of aerospace production, which increased by 82.5 percent to $1.1 billion.

Inventories Edge Lower:

Inventory stockpiles that have been slow to recede declined this spring and summer posted a modest 1 percent decline compared to May.

The good news for truckers waiting for demand for new products to return is that this was fifth consecutive monthly decline.

The slight decrease in inventories and the increase in overall manufacturing sales caused the inventory-to-sales ratio to drop to 1.58 from 1.61.