Wholesale Trade, March 2014, published May 20

Posted by on May 30, 2014 in Featured | 0 comments

Wholesalers sold $50.5 billion worth of goods and services in March, down 0.4% from February but 2.9% higher than in March 2013.  Excluding the automotive sector, wholesale sales were up 2.1% from March 2013.    

In terms of volume, wholesale sales were down 0.2% in March from February.

Annualized wholesale sales grew in eight provinces.  Newfoundland and Labrador (+15.9%) led the way, followed by Manitoba (+12.8%) and Prince Edward Island (+10.8%).  Decreases occurred in Nova Scotia (-4.6%) and Saskatchewan (-1.3%).  Quebec’s wholesale sales were up 1.2% from March 2013.   Ontario’s annualized  increase was 2.2%.

Wholesalers’ inventories in March increased 2.3% from February to $64.1 billion and were up 4.4% from March 2013.  The largest monthly increases, in dollar terms, were accounted for by the motor vehicle and parts industry (+6.9%) and the machinery, equipment and supplies industry (+1.7%).  This was the third consecutive monthly increase for both of these sectors.  Inventories in the building materials and supplies industry grew 2.8% in March    from February, their third gain in four months.  The inventory-to-sales ratio was 1.27 in March, up from 1.24 in February.  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 $7.1 billion in March, up 0.7% from February, the third consecutive monthly gain,  and a 2.7% increase from March 2013.   The $7.1 billion in total sales was the highest on record for the industry.  Inventories were valued at $11.5 billion, up 2.8% from February but down 1.5% from March 2013.

Wholesale sales of electrical, plumbing, heating and air-conditioning equipment and supplies stood at $2.2 billion in March, up 3.4% from February and 2.4% higher than in  March 2013.  Inventories were valued at $3.0 billion, down 0.7% from February and 6.9% lower than in March 2013.

Wholesale sales of metal service centres were $1.6 billion in March, down 0.7% from February but an increase of 9.0% from March 2013.  Inventories were valued at $3.2 billion, up 0.4% from February but a 5.9% decrease from March 2013.

Wholesale sales of lumber, millwork, hardware and other building supplies were $3.3 billion in March, down 0.4% from February  and a 0.1% increase from March 2013. Inventories were valued at $5.3 billion, up 6.6% from February and a 4.9% increase over March 2013.