Shipments rise for the fourth straight month

OTTAWA (Jan. 20) — Manufacturers’ shipments in Canada rose 1.0% in November to $38.6 billion, the fourth consecutive monthly increase.

The gains were paced by the motor vehicle industry, up 3.6%, according to Statistics Canada. Excluding the automotive sector, shipments rose 0.5% in November.

This strong upward turn in the trend of manufacturers’ shipments follows a lacklustre performance during the first seven months of the year. Total manufacturing shipments now stand 4.9% above the November 1997 level.

Unfilled orders dipped in November, while inventories rose moderately.

Manufacturers’ shipments increased in 13 of 22 major groups in November, representing 69.7% of the total value of shipments.

November’s increase in shipments outpaced the rise in inventories, resulting in a decreased inventory-to-shipments ratio of 1.30, down from 1.31 in October. The agency said the ratio has been decreasing over the past few months after climbing gradually in the spring and skyrocketing to a high of 1.42 in June and July. November’s result nudges the trend back within two basis points of low levels observed throughout most of 1997.

Manufacturers’ backlog of unfilled orders fell 0.6% to $48.9 billion in November. This decline contrasted with the strong increase observed in the five months from June to October. Despite November’s decrease, unfilled orders remained 14.8% above the November 1997 level.

Manufacturers’ inventories increased 0.5% in November to $50.4 billion.

The main contributors to November’s growth were the motor vehicle (+13.3%), and electrical and electronic products (+3.5%) industries, StatsCan reported.