Canadian manufacturing sales, inventories and unfilled orders rise in July

On a volume basis, sales rose 1.1%.

Sales rose in 12 of 21 categories tracked by the government agency, accounting for 63 per cent of production, including the 2.3 per cent gain in food to $8.17-billion.

OTTAWA-Canadian factory sales rose for a third straight month in July, led by shipments of vehicles and auto parts, in another sign the nonenergy side of the country’s economy is picking up steam and set to drive growth in the second half of 2015.

The Paris-based economics organization says that lower prices for oil, coal and metals are hampering countries that depend heavily on commodity exports, such as Canada and Australia. The gain follows revised increases of 0.7 percent in May and 1.5 percent in June. In the primary metal industry, widespread declines among manufacturers led to a 20.6 per cent drop in sales for the industry.

Manufacturing sales climbed at a faster-than-expected pace of 1.7% to 52.19 billion Canadian dollars (US$39.40 billion), Statistics Canada said on Wednesday.

Higher sales in vehicles and parts accounted for nearly two-thirds of the overall increase.

Sales of motor vehicle parts rose 12.1 per cent to $2.6 billion in July.

Sales of primary metals fell 3.0 percent to $3.7 billion and moderated the overall gain. Conversely, lower prices for the sub-industry in 2015 have contributed to recent declines.

Canadians sold C$4.24 billion of both U.S. and non-U.S. foreign equities, while purchases of foreign debt rose by C$4.0 billion as investors picked up U.S. Treasury bonds. About three-quarters of the gain stemmed from higher inventories in the transportation equipment industry.

Canadians sold C$4.24 billion of both U.S. and non-U.S. foreign equities, while purchases of foreign debt rose by C$4.0 billion as investors picked up U.S. Treasury bonds.

New orders, which act as an indicator of future activity, rose by a hefty 10.2%, which the data agency said reflected a gain in the aerospace sector.

“More broadly, increasing strength in the U.S. economy, combined with a further depreciation of the loonie to 73 US cents, should translate into increased demand for Canadian-made goods”, Ignjatovic wrote in a report. The majority of unfilled orders in the industry are held in US dollars.