Shipments by the manufacturing sector increased 0.9% to $52 billion in October, led by the automotive sector, Statistics Canada said today.

The increase was concentrated among 10 of the 21 manufacturing industries, accounting for 57% of the total, the agency said.

Excluding the motor vehicle and auto parts industries, total manufacturing shipments were unchanged from September.

Following a weak September for the auto industry, when shipments fell 7.3%, October saw shipments rise 7.6% to $6.2 billion.

“October’s gains were attributable to a boost in production of 2006 models by some plants, coupled with the fact that Canada is currently home to the assembly of several popular makes of cars and light trucks in North America,” Statistics Canada said.

Manufacturers of chemicals, railroad rolling stock and machinery also contributed to the rise.

Strong demand and tight supply in the United States boosted October’s shipments of chemical products 2.2% to $4.2 billion, the third successive increase.

Production of railroad rolling stock recovered from a sharp drop in September due to temporary operational problems at some plants, with production up 40.4% to $310 million in October.

Machinery manufacturers saw shipments rise 2.8% to $2.7 billion.

New contracts in the aerospace industry led to a 1.4% surge in unfilled orders for the month.

A 3.2% drop in the industrial price of petroleum in October pulled down the value of shipments of petroleum and coal products by 2.4% from September’s record level of $5.2 billion.