Canada’s sales of manufacturing goods increased in January by 3.1pc to C$56.2bn ($45bn) from December 2020, according to Statistics Canada (StatCan).
Sales of primary metal products increased by 6pc to C$4.2bn in January from the previous month. StatCan reported that the iron and steel mills and ferro-alloy manufacturers played a large role. Sales of non-metallic mineral products saw a 16.8pc rise in January compared to December last year.
Motor vehicle sales however fell by 8.2pc to C$13.9bn in January from the previous month, attributed to the chip shortage globally which is expected to affect production through the year.
The country’s inventory rose 1.9pc to C$88.3bn in January from the prior month and order backlog increased 2.3pc to C$87.5bn in the same period with primary metal industry sales increasing by 14.2pc.
($1 = C$1.25)