Shipments from Canadian factories hit their highest value so far in 2006 in July, but the gain was mainly the result of strong increases in commodity prices, Statistics Canada said today.

Canadian manufacturers shipped $49.9 billion worth of goods, up 0.8% from June.

But with price increases taken into account, the overall volume of shipments actually declined 0.6% to $45.1 billion.

Shipments increased in 11 of 21 manufacturing industries in July.

Durable goods shipments fell only slightly, as decreases in the aerospace and auto parts industries were not completely offset by increases in the automotive, machinery and computer and electronics industries.

July’s gain was almost entirely attributed to the strong performance in the petroleum sector, where shipments rose to their highest level on record due to restored capacity and price increases fuelled by conflict in the Middle East.