According to Statistics Canada, manufacturing sales edged up 0.1 percent in July to $50.7 billion. Higher sales in the food, petroleum and coal products, and primary metals industries were largely offset by a decrease in the production of aerospace product and parts, and by lower machinery sales.
Overall, sales were up in 9 of 21 industries, representing about 54 percent of the manufacturing sector. Non-durable goods rose 1.0 percent to $23.6 billion, while durable goods decreased 0.7 percent to $27.0 billion.
Sales in the machinery industry fell 3.3 percent to $2.6 billion in July, following gains in June. Manufacturers in the commercial and service machinery, agricultural, construction and mining machinery, and industrial machinery industries reported lower sales.
Motor vehicle parts sales fell 2.5 percent to $2.5 billion in July, after increasing 4.6 percent in June. Despite a shorter shutdown at parts manufacturers this July, declines in the sales of motor vehicle parts were greater than expected, contributing to the decrease in seasonally adjusted sales for the industry.
Manufacturing inventories increased 1.0 percent to $71.5 billion in July, the highest level since January 2016. Inventories rose in 11 of 21 industries. The inventory-to-sales ratio increased from 1.40 in June to 1.41 in July.
Unfilled orders edged down 0.1 percent to $90.3 billion in July, after three consecutive monthly gains. The decline was mainly the result of lower unfilled orders in the transportation equipment industry (-0.5 percent).
New orders were down 2.9 percent in July, following three consecutive monthly gains. New orders declined in the aerospace product and parts, and fabricated metal products industries.