Canada Factory Sales Climb 0.9% on Month in December on Wood Products

By Paul Vieira

OTTAWA--Canadian manufacturing sales climbed in December, as shipments of wood products reached a record high. Volumes fell in the month, however.

Canadian factory sales rose 0.9% in December from November to a seasonally adjusted 54.19 billion Canadian dollars, or the equivalent to US$42.69 billion, Statistics Canada said Monday. Market expectations were not available.

The prior month's data were revised, and now indicate that sales fell 0.4% in November versus the earlier estimate of a 0.6% drop.

On a volume, or price-adjusted, basis, factory sales fell 0.4% in December.

In the fourth quarter, sales rose 1.1% on a nominal basis but dropped 0.2% on a volume basis.

The data agency said wood-product sales increased 8.3% to a record level of roughly C$3.7 billion, driven by higher prices. Overall, only nine of the 21 components tracked recorded increases.

Meanwhile, the capacity utilization rate in Canadian factories fell in December to 75.1% from 77.6% in the previous month. New orders climbed by 8.4% in December, while unfilled orders rose 0.3%.

For 2020, total manufacturing sales fell 11.4% on a nominal basis, and by 9.5% on a price-adjusted basis, as the coronavirus pandemic weighed on economic activity.

Write to Paul Vieira at [e-mail]

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

02-15-21 0922ET