Wholesalers sold $53.9 billion worth of goods and services in March, up 0.8% from February and 5.6% higher than in March 2014. Excluding the automotive sector, wholesale sales were up 5.7% from March 2014.
In terms of volume, wholesale sales were up 1.0% in March from February.
Annualized wholesale sales grew in nine provinces. Prince Edward Island (+16.7%) led the way, followed by Saskatchewan (+12.2%) and British Columbia (+8.2%). Quebec’s wholesale sales were up 2.2% from March 2014, while Ontario recorded an annualized gain of 7.7%. Newfoundland and Labrador was the only province to experience a loss (-0.7%).
Wholesalers’ inventories in March increased 1.0% from February to $71.4 billion, their 15th consecutive monthly gain and their highest level on record. They were up 11.4% from March 2014. Gains were recorded in four of the seven sectors. The largest monthly increase, in dollar terms, was accounted for by the machinery, equipment and supplies sector (+2.4%). The monthly inventory increase for the building materials and supplies industry was +0.3%. The inventory-to-sales ratio was 1.32 in March, unchanged from 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 $7.6 billion in March, up 2.8% from February and a 6.2% increase from March 2014. Annualized sales have been up for 15 consecutive months. Inventories were valued at $13.0 billion, up 0.3% from February and 12.2% higher than in March 2014.
Wholesale sales of electrical, plumbing, heating and air-conditioning equipment and supplies stood at $2.4 billion in March, up 4.7% from February and 8.8% higher than in March 2014. Inventories were valued at $3.4 billion, up 1.0% from February and 12.9% higher than in March 2014.
Wholesale sales of metal service centres were $1.6 billion in March, down 0.5% from February and a decrease of 6.3% from March 2014. Inventories were valued at $3.8 billion, down 1.3% from February but a 17.4% increase from March 2014.
Wholesale sales of lumber, millwork, hardware and other building supplies were $3.6 billion in March, up 3.0% from February and a 10.7% increase from March 2014. Inventories were valued at $5.8 billion, up 1.0% from February and an 8.6% increase over March 2014.