The pace of Canadian manufacturing sales slowed in September, while volumes fell, data from Statistics Canada showed on Wednesday. The 0.3 per cent increase in sales was a step down from August’s hefty 0.9 per cent increase.
It was also driven largely by gains in the transportation equipment sector. Although sales were up in 12 out of 21 industries, a 1.5 per cent increase in the sector accounted for more than 85 per cent of the total gain in manufacturing sales.
Manufacturing sales by sawmills, however, increased sharply. These were up by 10 per cent for the top three lumber producing provinces combined — British Columbia, Quebec, and Alberta — for January to September 2016 com- pared to the same time last year.
Data released Thursday by Industry Canada shows softwood lumber exports to the world improved also by 10 per cent for the first nine months of 2016, driven largely by a 15 per cent increase in lumber exports to USA and impaired by a 7 per cent decrease to China compared to 2015.
Canada Sawmill Exports: September 2016
Canada Manufacturing Sales at Sawmills: September 2016
