Sales for Canada’s manufacturing sector increased in June by 2.1% over May to reach $52.5 billion, Statistics Canada said today.
StatsCan said it was the fifth sales increase in six months for the sector.
Adjusting to constant dollars, sales were up by 0.6% to $47 billion in June.
“Industrial prices for petroleum and coal, chemical products, wood products, and motor vehicles rose notably during the month,” Statistics Canada said.
The biggest factor in June’s gains came from petroleum and coal product manufacturers. Sales in that sector rose by 6.4%, as prices were up by 6.2% in the month.
Motor vehicle manufacturers in June posted their fourth gain in six months as sales rose by 4.2%.
However, motor vehicle manufacturing sales totalled only $4.2 billion, below the $5 billion monthly average for 2007.
Separately, StatsCan reported that motor vehicle dealership sold 143,270 new vehicles in June, down 1.0% from May. The trend away from trucks to passenger cars continued.
Preliminary industry data for July indicate that the number of new motor vehicles sold will remain relatively unchanged, StatsCan said.