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Wholesale sales posted their largest increase since January 2010, rising 1.2% to $44.5 billion in August. Higher sales in the machinery, equipment and supplies subsector were a major contributor to this growth.
In volume terms, wholesale sales were up 0.9% in August.
Increases were reported in all subsectors, except for the food, beverages, and tobacco products subsector.
The largest increase in dollar terms came in the machinery, equipment and supplies sub-sector, which climbed 3.2% to $9.4 billion in August. This was the subsector's highest level since December 2008. All four component industries that comprise this subsector increased, with the construction, forestry, mining, and industrial machinery, equipment and supplies industry (+4.7%) reporting the largest gain.
The miscellaneous subsector, which includes agricultural supplies, non-agricultural chemicals, paper products, and recycled materials industries, rose 3.4% in August, up for a third consecutive month. This gain was largely attributable to increases in the other miscellaneous (+5.9%), and the agricultural supplies (+3.4%) industries.
Note to readers
All the data in this release are seasonally adjusted and in current dollars, unless otherwise noted.
Wholesale trade sales expressed in volume are calculated by deflating current dollar values using import and industry product price indexes. Since many of the goods sold by wholesalers are imported, fluctuations in the value of the Canadian dollar can have an important influence on the prices of the goods bought and sold by wholesalers.
The wholesale sales series in chained (2002) dollars is a chained Fisher volume index with 2002 as the reference year.
The food, beverages and tobacco products subsector (-0.9%) posted the lone decline for the month. The food product industry, which makes up close to 90% of the subsector, decreased 1.1% in August following a 2.0% increase in July.
Wholesale sales up in most provinces
Wholesale sales were up in seven provinces in August, with Ontario and Alberta posting the largest increases in dollar terms.
The largest contributor to the increase was Ontario, where sales rose 1.5% in August following a 0.3% decline in July. This was the province's strongest month-over-month gain since November 2009.
In Alberta, wholesale sales grew by 2.2%, helped by higher sales in the machinery, equipment and supplies subsector. This was the province's 9th increase in 10 months.
Sales in Manitoba rose 3.8% in August, increasing for the third consecutive month. Higher sales in the miscellaneous subsector contributed to this growth.
Wholesale sales in Quebec remained unchanged following a 1.0% decline in July.
Inventories decline for the first time in five months
Wholesale trade inventories fell 0.3% to $52.9 billion in August, their first decrease in five months.
Overall, 11 of the 25 wholesale trade industries reported lower inventory levels.
Wholesalers of motor vehicles, metal service centres, and the textile, clothing and footwear industries reported the biggest inventory decreases in dollar terms.
The largest inventory increases in dollar terms came in the construction, forestry, mining, and industrial machinery, equipment and supplies, and the other miscellaneous industries.
The decline in inventories, combined with the increase in sales, translated into a decrease in the inventory-to-sales ratio from 1.21 in July to 1.19 in August.
The inventory-to-sales ratio is a measure of the time in months required to exhaust inventories if sales were to remain at their current level.
Available on CANSIM: tables 081-0011 to 081-0013.
Definitions, data sources and methods: survey number 2401.
The August 2010 issue of Wholesale Trade (63-008-X, free) will soon be available.
Wholesale trade data for September will be released on November 18.
To obtain data or general information, contact Client Services (toll-free 1-877-421-3067; 613-951-3549; wholesaleinfo@statcan.gc.ca). To enquire about the concepts, methods or data quality of this release, contact Steve Chadder (613-951-0303; steve.chadder@statcan.gc.ca), Distributive Trades Division.
Table 1
| August 2009 | July 2010r | August 2010p | July to August 2010 | August 2009 to August 2010 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Seasonally adjusted | |||||
| $ millions | % change | ||||
| Total, wholesale sales | 41,388 | 43,965 | 44,503 | 1.2 | 7.5 |
| Total, excluding motor vehicle and parts wholesalers | 34,584 | 36,668 | 37,175 | 1.4 | 7.5 |
| Farm product | 463 | 523 | 527 | 0.7 | 13.7 |
| Food, beverage and tobacco | 8,002 | 8,591 | 8,517 | -0.9 | 6.4 |
| Food | 7,076 | 7,660 | 7,575 | -1.1 | 7.1 |
| Beverage | 411 | 410 | 408 | -0.5 | -0.6 |
| Cigarette and tobacco product | 516 | 521 | 534 | 2.4 | 3.5 |
| Personal and household goods | 6,979 | 6,885 | 6,915 | 0.4 | -0.9 |
| Textile, clothing and footwear | 794 | 875 | 873 | -0.3 | 10.0 |
| Home entertainment equipment and household appliance | 727 | 724 | 748 | 3.3 | 2.8 |
| Home furnishings | 458 | 516 | 475 | -8.0 | 3.7 |
| Personal goods | 892 | 768 | 757 | -1.3 | -15.1 |
| Pharmaceuticals and pharmacy supplies | 3,442 | 3,311 | 3,372 | 1.9 | -2.0 |
| Toiletries, cosmetics and sundries | F | 692 | 690 | -0.3 | F |
| Motor vehicle and parts | 6,803 | 7,297 | 7,328 | 0.4 | 7.7 |
| Motor vehicle | 5,124 | 5,691 | 5,703 | 0.2 | 11.3 |
| New motor vehicle parts and accessories | 1,634 | 1,567 | 1,585 | 1.1 | -3.0 |
| Used motor vehicle parts and accessories | F | 40 | 41 | 3.7 | F |
| Building material and supplies | 5,528 | 6,138 | 6,203 | 1.1 | 12.2 |
| Electrical, plumbing, heating and air-conditioning equipment and supplies | 1,802 | 1,978 | 1,974 | -0.2 | 9.5 |
| Metal service centres | 982 | 1,285 | 1,322 | 2.9 | 34.7 |
| Lumber, millwork, hardware and other building supplies | 2,744 | 2,875 | 2,907 | 1.1 | 5.9 |
| Machinery, equipment and supplies | 8,256 | 9,093 | 9,388 | 3.2 | 13.7 |
| Farm, lawn and garden machinery and equipment | 1,007 | 991 | 1,034 | 4.3 | 2.6 |
| Construction, forestry, mining, and industrial machinery, equipment and supplies | 2,373 | 2,831 | 2,965 | 4.7 | 24.9 |
| Computer and communications equipment and supplies | 2,533 | 2,976 | 3,054 | 2.6 | 20.5 |
| Other machinery, equipment and supplies | 2,344 | 2,294 | 2,336 | 1.8 | -0.3 |
| Miscellaneous | 5,355 | 5,438 | 5,625 | 3.4 | 5.1 |
| Recyclable material | 537 | 578 | 577 | -0.1 | 7.6 |
| Paper, paper product and disposable plastic product | 662 | 688 | 696 | 1.1 | 5.1 |
| Agricultural supplies | 1,355 | 1,276 | 1,320 | 3.4 | -2.6 |
| Chemical (except agricultural) and allied product | 946 | 1,059 | 1,088 | 2.7 | 14.9 |
| Other miscellaneous | 1,854 | 1,836 | 1,944 | 5.9 | 4.9 |
Table 2
| August 2009 | July 2010r | August 2010p | July to August 2010 | August 2009 to August 2010 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Seasonally adjusted | |||||
| $ millions | % change | ||||
| Canada | 41,388 | 43,965 | 44,503 | 1.2 | 7.5 |
| Newfoundland and Labrador | 256 | 275 | 286 | 3.8 | 11.4 |
| Prince Edward Island | 38 | 38 | 40 | 6.9 | 6.0 |
| Nova Scotia | 577 | 632 | 624 | -1.2 | 8.2 |
| New Brunswick | 461 | 511 | 505 | -1.1 | 9.7 |
| Quebec | 8,195 | 8,388 | 8,387 | 0.0 | 2.3 |
| Ontario | 21,003 | 22,557 | 22,899 | 1.5 | 9.0 |
| Manitoba | 1,146 | 1,077 | 1,118 | 3.8 | -2.4 |
| Saskatchewan | 1,324 | 1,318 | 1,345 | 2.0 | 1.5 |
| Alberta | 4,496 | 5,146 | 5,258 | 2.2 | 16.9 |
| British Columbia | 3,838 | 3,951 | 3,972 | 0.5 | 3.5 |
| Yukon | 11 | 12 | 12 | -2.1 | 4.7 |
| Northwest Territories | 40 | 56 | 52 | -6.6 | 30.2 |
| Nunavut | 3 | 4 | 5 | 45.7 | 64.2 |
Table 3
| August 2009 | July 2010r | August 2010p | July to August 2010 | August 2009 to August 2010 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Seasonally adjusted | |||||
| $ millions | % change | ||||
| Total, wholesale inventories | 53,623 | 52,990 | 52,856 | -0.3 | -1.4 |
| Farm product | 162 | 155 | 151 | -2.4 | -6.9 |
| Food | 4,364 | 4,231 | 4,261 | 0.7 | -2.4 |
| Beverage | 260 | 258 | 252 | -2.3 | -3.2 |
| Cigarette and tobacco product | 242 | 216 | 220 | 1.9 | -9.2 |
| Textile, clothing and footwear | 1,708 | 1,663 | 1,581 | -5.0 | -7.5 |
| Home entertainment equipment and household appliance | 810 | 775 | 793 | 2.4 | -2.1 |
| Home furnishings | 951 | 952 | 955 | 0.3 | 0.4 |
| Personal goods | 1,511 | 1,552 | 1,551 | 0.0 | 2.7 |
| Pharmaceuticals and pharmacy supplies | 4,181 | 3,965 | 3,944 | -0.5 | -5.7 |
| Toiletries, cosmetics and sundries | 610 | 645 | 661 | 2.5 | 8.4 |
| Motor vehicle | 3,419 | 3,611 | 3,437 | -4.8 | 0.5 |
| New motor vehicle parts and accessories | 3,100 | 3,078 | 3,119 | 1.3 | 0.6 |
| Used motor vehicle parts and accessories | F | 75 | 76 | 1.2 | F |
| Electrical, plumbing, heating and air-conditioning equipment and supplies | 2,873 | 2,816 | 2,765 | -1.8 | -3.8 |
| Metal service centres | 2,425 | 2,559 | 2,472 | -3.4 | 1.9 |
| Lumber, millwork, hardware and other building supplies | 4,165 | 4,529 | 4,476 | -1.2 | 7.5 |
| Farm, lawn and garden machinery and equipment | 3,151 | 3,123 | 3,146 | 0.7 | -0.2 |
| Construction, forestry, mining, and industrial machinery, equipment and supplies | 7,899 | 7,523 | 7,624 | 1.3 | -3.5 |
| Computer and communications equipment and supplies | 1,502 | 1,646 | 1,639 | -0.4 | 9.1 |
| Other machinery, equipment and supplies | 3,429 | 3,160 | 3,166 | 0.2 | -7.7 |
| Recyclable material | 308 | 304 | 306 | 0.6 | -0.6 |
| Paper, paper product and disposable plastic product | 634 | 589 | 611 | 3.6 | -3.7 |
| Agricultural supplies | 2,595 | 2,536 | 2,530 | -0.2 | -2.5 |
| Chemical (except agricultural) and allied product | 1,068 | 925 | 945 | 2.2 | -11.5 |
| Other miscellaneous | 2,180 | 2,105 | 2,174 | 3.3 | -0.2 |
