Wholesalers sold $50.3 billion worth of goods and services in May, up 2.3% from April and 0.8% higher than in May 2012. Excluding the automotive sector, wholesale sales were up 1.1% from May 2012.
In terms of volume, wholesale sales were up 2.4% in May from April.
Annualized wholesale sales grew in seven provinces. Prince Edward Island (+11.1%) led the way, followed by Saskatchewan (+8.3%) and British Columbia (+3.7%). The losses occurred in New Brunswick (-4.5%) followed by Quebec (-1.4%) and Nova Scotia (-0.9%). Ontario experienced a year-over-year gain of 0.9%.
Wholesalers’ inventories in May were unchanged from April at $61.8 billion and were up 3.5% from May 2012. The annualized increases, in dollar terms, were mainly accounted for by the agricultural supplies industry (+18.6%) and the farm, lawn and garden machinery and equipment industry (+11.2%). The inventory-to-sales ratio in May was unchanged from April at 1.26.
Wholesale sales of building materials and supplies were $6.9 billion in May, up 1.3% from April and a 2.6% gain from May 2012. This was the 29th consecutive annualized increase. Inventories were valued at $11.3 billion, unchanged from April but a 2.6% gain from May 2012.
Wholesale sales of electrical, plumbing, heating and air-conditioning equipment and supplies stood at $2.2 billion in May, up 3.0% from April and a 2.1% increase from May 2012. Inventories were valued at $3.2 billion, up 3.1% from April and 1.9% higher than in May 2012.
Wholesale sales of metal service centres were $1.5 billion in May, up 1.5% from April but a decrease of 3.5% from May 2012. Inventories were valued at $3.2 billion, down 3.0% from April and a 3.2% decrease from May 2012.
Wholesale sales of lumber, millwork, hardware and other building supplies were $3.3 billion in May, up 0.2% from April and a 6.1% increase from May 2012. Inventories were valued at $4.9 billion, up 0.1% from April and a 7.2% increase over May 2012.