Wholesale sales in Canada surpass $83 billion in October

Wholesale sales in Canada rose 2.1 per cent to $83.4 billion in October with the largest increases in the miscellaneous goods, the building material and supplies, and the personal and household goods subsectors, accounting for 82.4 per cent of the monthly gain, reported Statistics Canada on Friday.

“Sales of the miscellaneous goods subsector rose 5.5 per cent to $13.0 billion in October, rebounding after a sharp decline in September. Monthly gains were reported in four of the five industries, but the bulk of the increase and driver of the rebound was the agricultural supplies industry (+10.4 per cent to $5.2 billion). Higher prices of commodities, availability of transportation and seasonality were driving factors of the fluctuation,” said the federal agency.

“The building material and supplies subsector rose 3.3 per cent to $12.6 billion in October, on higher sales in the lumber, millwork, hardware and other building supplies industry (+6.0 per cent to $6.4 billion), which reported its first increase since March 2022. Products of this industry are mainly equipment for non-residential building supplies and hardware. This movement aligns with the data from the building permits program, reporting an increase of non-residential permits in October.

“For a third consecutive month, sales of the personal and household goods subsector increased, up 2.8 per cent in October to $11.6 billion. The gain was led by the pharmaceuticals and pharmacy supplies industry (+3.9 per cent), reaching a level of $6.4 billion, the highest since January 2022. Higher sales of pharmaceutical products reflect the recent availability and authorization of COVID-19 vaccine boosters targeting the Omicron subvariants.”

StatsCan said inventories rose 0.6 per cent to $125.8 billion in October, the ninth consecutive monthly increase. Increased inventories were reported in four of the seven subsectors, led by the personal and household goods subsector and by the food, beverage and tobacco subsector. Meanwhile, the farm products, machinery, equipment and supplies, and miscellaneous subsectors all saw a decrease in inventories, it said.

The inventory-to-sales ratio decreased from 1.53 in September to 1.51 in October. This ratio is a measure of the time (in months) required to exhaust inventories if sales were to remain at their current levels.

(Mario Toneguzzi is Managing Editor of Canada’s Podcast. He has more than 40 years of experience as a daily newspaper writer, columnist, and editor. He worked for 35 years at the Calgary Herald, covering sports, crime, politics, health, faith, city and breaking news, and business. He works as well as a freelance writer for several national publications and as a consultant in communications and media relations/training. Mario was named in 2021 as one of the Top 10 Business Journalists in the World by PR News – the only Canadian to make the list)