Wholesalers sold $57.2 billion worth of goods and services in December, up 2.0% from November and 2.3% higher than in December 2014. Excluding the automotive sector, wholesale sales were up 1.2% from December 2014.
In terms of volume, wholesale sales were up 1.8% in December from November.
Annualized wholesale sales were up in eight provinces. Quebec (+6.3%) led the way, followed by Prince Edward Island (+5.1%) and Ontario (+4.5%). Alberta experienced the largest loss (-9.4%).
Wholesalers’ inventories in December decreased 0.1% from November to $72.9 billion. They were up 6.3% from December 2014. Month-over-month declines were recorded in three of the seven sectors, representing 56.0% of total wholesale inventories, with the machinery, equipment and supplies sector accounting for most of the decrease. (-1.2%). The monthly increase for the building materials and supplies industry was 0.6%, its first gain following eight consecutive monthly declines. The inventory-to-sales ratio was 1.27 in December, down from 1.30 in November. 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 $7.9 billion in December, up 1.0% from November but 2.1% lower than in December 2014. Inventories were valued at $12.1 billion, up 0.6% from November but 3.7% lower than in December 2014.
Wholesale sales of electrical, plumbing, heating and air-conditioning equipment and supplies stood at $2.5 billion in December, up 5.2% from November but 7.6% lower than in December 2014. Inventories were valued at $3.3 billion, up 1.4% from November and 6.1% higher than in December 2014.
Wholesale sales of metal service centres were $1.4 billion in November, down 1.2% from November and a decrease of 14.5% from December 2014. Inventories were valued at $3.2 billion, down 1.2% from November and a 19.1% decrease from December 2014.
Wholesale sales of lumber, millwork, hardware and other building supplies were $3.9 billion in December, down 0.8% from November but a 7.7% increase from December 2014. Inventories were valued at $5.6 billion, up 1.1% from November and a 1.6% increase over December 2014.