Canada posts strong manufacturing numbers as sector hits $55.8bn in February

Analyst predictions have been surpassed by Canada’s manufacturing sector after it posted a 1.9% revenue increase in February to C$55.8bn.

Data from Statistics Canada shows that sales were up in 14 of 21 industries, representing 72.2% of the total Canadian manufacturing sector.

The most significant gain came from transport industry suppliers, which saw a 6.6% rise in business to $10.7bn.

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Kyle Dahms, analyst at the National Bank of Canada, told FXStreet: “Although growth for the Canadian economy is set to slow down in the first quarter, the manufacturing sector will still provide some lift.

“All in all, we expect the manufacturing sector to continue contributing to growth in 2018 assuming positive developments in NAFTA negotiations.”

Total inventories rose 1.3% to a record high $77.4bn in February. This was the fifth consecutive monthly gain in inventories, with 14 of 21 industries again posting increases.

However, not all manufacturing subsectors performed strongly. These increases seen across most of the sector were partially offset by a 2.1% decrease in the petroleum and coal products industry, whose sales totalled $5.8bn, which was partly explained by the decrease in the price of refined products.