Canada’s sales of manufactured goods fell by 11.4pc to C$610.6bn ($481bn) in 2020 compared to 2019 because of the COVID-19 pandemic-related shutdowns in H1, according to Statistics Canada (StatCan).
In the fourth quarter of the year, the country’s manufactured goods sales increased by 1.1pc from the previous quarter. In December, its sales of manufactured goods rose by 0.9pc to C$54.2bn from the previous month.
The country’s sales in the transportation equipment industry declined by 15.6pc in Q4 2020 on an annual basis and dropped by 9.3pc from the previous quarter, StatCan reported.
December 2020
In December, the total sales of transportation equipment rose by 2.3pc to C$9.2bn compared to the previous month. Under this segment, the sales of motor vehicles increased by 1.7pc, motor vehicle parts increased by 2.5pc, and railroad rolling stock surged by 26.9pc in December compared to the previous month.
Canada’s sales of fabricated metal products increased by 1.4pc in December compared to November 2020, StatCan indicated.
The country’s total inventory levels declined by 0.6pc to C$86.5bn in December from the previous month. Under this segment, inventory levels for transportation equipment dropped by 3.1pc and machinery fell by 5.7pc from November 2020.
The country’s unfilled order levels rose by 0.3pc to C$85.4bn in December 2020 from the previous month. This was led by fabricated metal products with an increase in unfilled orders by 4.8pc. However, unfilled orders of machinery dropped by 5.1pc, StatCan reported.
(C$1 = $0.79)