Wholesalers sold $50.7 billion worth of goods and services in February, up 1.1% from January and 3.5% higher than in February 2013. Excluding the automotive sector, wholesale sales were up 4.0% from February 2013.
In terms of volume, wholesale sales were up 0.8% in February from January.
Annualized wholesale sales grew in nine provinces. Prince Edward Island (+16.9%) led the way, followed by Ontario (+5.5%) and Newfoundland and Labrador (+4.2%). The only decrease occurred in Nova Scotia (-1.2%). Quebec’s wholesale sales were unchanged from February 2013.
Wholesalers’ inventories in February increased 0.4% from January to $62.4 billion and were up 2.0% from February 2013. The largest monthly increases, in dollar terms, were accounted for by the machinery, equipment and supplies industry (+1.7%) and the motor vehicle and parts industry (+2.7%) This was the second consecutive monthly increase for both of these sectors. Inventories in the building materials and supplies industry fell 0.7% in February from January, following two consecutive monthly increases. The inventory-to-sales ratio was 1.23 in February, down from 1.24 in January. The ratio is a measure of the time in months required to exhaust inventories if sales were to remain at their current level.
Wholesale sales of building materials and supplies were $7.0 billion in February, up 0.9% from January and a 2.0% increase from February 2013. Inventories were valued at $11.2 billion, down 0.7% from January and a 3.4% decrease from February 2013.
Wholesale sales of electrical, plumbing, heating and air-conditioning equipment and supplies stood at $2.1 billion in February, down 0.2% from January and unchanged from February 2013. Inventories were valued at $3.0 billion, down 0.4% from January and 5.2% lower than in February 2013.
Wholesale sales of metal service centres were $1.6 billion in February, up 4.2% from January and an increase of 8.5% from February 2013. Inventories were valued at $3.2 billion, down 0.5% from January and a 7.5% decrease from February 2013.
Wholesale sales of lumber, millwork, hardware and other building supplies were $3.3 billion in February, unchanged from January and a 0.2% increase from February 2013. Inventories were valued at $5.0 billion, down 0.9% from January but a 0.6% increase over February 2013.