Wholesalers sold $57.0 billion worth of goods and services in January, unchanged from December but 5.9% higher than in January 2015. Excluding the automotive sector, wholesale sales were up 2.6% from January 2015.
In terms of volume, wholesale sales were down 0.2% in January from December.
Annualized wholesale sales were up in seven provinces. Ontario (+11.2%) led the way, followed by Nova Scotia (+10.4%) and British Columbia (+7.6%). Quebec’s annualized gain was 6.1%. Alberta experienced the largest loss (-10.7%).
Wholesalers’ inventories in January increased 0.3% from December to $72.9 billion. They were up 3.6% from January 2014. Month-over-month increases were recorded in three of the seven sectors, representing 51.0% of total wholesale inventories, with the machinery, equipment and supplies sector accounting for most of the increase. (+1.2%). The monthly decrease for the building materials and supplies industry was 0.9%, its eighth decline in the last nine months. The inventory-to-sales ratio was 1.28 in January, up from 1.27 in December. The ratio is a measure of the time in months required to exhaust inventories if sales were to remain at their current level.
Wholesale sales of building materials and supplies were $7.8 billion in January, down 0.8% from December but 3.0% higher than in January 2015. Inventories were valued at $12.0 billion, down 0.9% from December and 7.4% lower than in January 2015.
Wholesale sales of electrical, plumbing, heating and air-conditioning equipment and supplies stood at $2.4 billion in January, down 2.9% from December but 2.3% higher than in January 2015. Inventories were valued at $3.2 billion, down 2.1% from December and 5.5% lower than in January 2015.
Wholesale sales of metal service centres were $1.4 billion in January, down 1.3% from December and a decrease of 13.6% from January 2014. Inventories were valued at $3.1 billion, down 1.2% from December and a 19.6% decrease from January 2015.
Wholesale sales of lumber, millwork, hardware and other building supplies were $3.9 billion in January, up 0.8% from December and an 11.1% increase from January 2015. Inventories were valued at $5.6 billion, down 0.1% from December and a 0.3% decrease over January 2015.