Wholesalers sold $50.5 billion worth of goods and services in 0ctober, up 1.4% from September and 3.5% higher than in October 2012. Excluding the automotive sector, wholesale sales were up 3.4% from October 2012.
In terms of volume, wholesale sales were up 1.2% in October from September .
Annualized wholesale sales grew in all provinces. Nova Scotia (+12.7%) led the way, followed by Saskatchewan (+12.4%). Ontario’s wholesale sales in October were up (+3.7%) from a year earlier while Quebec’s wholesale sales grew by 0.1% from October 2012.
Wholesalers’ inventories in October decreased 0.2% from September to $61.8 billion but were up 0.7% from October 2012. The largest annualized increase, in dollar terms, was accounted for by the farm products industry (+18.0%) and the food, beverage and tobacco industry (+4.1%). The inventory-to-sales ratio was 1.22 in October, down from 1.24 in September.
Wholesale sales of building materials and supplies were $7.2 billion in October, up 1.0% from September and a 4.0% gain from October 2012. Inventories were valued at $11.3 billion, up 0.1% from September but a 0.7% drop from October 2012.
Wholesale sales of electrical, plumbing, heating and air-conditioning equipment and supplies stood at $2.2 billion in October, up 0.1% from September but a 0.3% decrease from October 2012. Inventories were valued at $3.0 billion, up 1.4% from September but 4.3% lower than in October 2012.
Wholesale sales of metal service centres were $1.6 billion in October, up 1.6% from September and an increase of 7.0% from October 2012. Inventories were valued at $3.4 billion, down 1.1% from September but a 0.9% increase from October 2012.
Wholesale sales of lumber, millwork, hardware and other building supplies were $3.4 billion in October, up 1.3% from September and a 5.6% increase from October 2012. Inventories were valued at $4.9 billion, up 0.2% from September and a 0.6% increase over October 2012.