Manufacturing sales up 0.7% in February

Manufacturing sales rose 0.7% to $71.6 billion in February, helped by higher sales of petroleum and coal, Statistics Canada said Monday.

The agency said manufacturing sales were up in 13 of the 21 subsectors it tracks as petroleum and coal sales rose 4.3% to $8.7 billion, helped by higher prices and to a lesser extent, volumes.

Sales of electrical equipment, appliance and component products rose 12.6% to a record $1.5 billion in February.

Meanwhile, sales of chemical products fell 5.5% to $5.3 billion in February as sales of pesticide, fertilizer and other agricultural chemical products moved lower.

Overall, manufacturing sales in constant dollars rose 0.1% in February.

In a separate report, Statistics Canada said wholesale sales, excluding petroleum, petroleum products, and other hydrocarbons and excluding oilseed and grain, were essentially unchanged in February at $82.2 billion.

The result came as sales increased in four of the seven subsectors with the machinery, equipment and supplies subsector up 1.1% at $17.6 billion in February, while the food, beverage and tobacco subsector fell 1.3% to $14.6 billion.

Sales in the motor vehicle and motor vehicle parts and accessories subsector rose 0.8% to $14.3 billion in February.

In volume terms, wholesale sales, excluding petroleum, petroleum products, and other hydrocarbons and excluding oilseed and grain, rose 0.2% in February.

Statistics Canada started including oilseed and grain as well as the petroleum and petroleum products subsector as part of wholesale trade last year but is excluding the data from monthly analysis until there is enough historical data.