Inventories down in June

OTTAWA, Ont. — Manufacturers’ total inventories fell $454 million to $65.8 billion in June, a 0.7% decrease, according to Statistics Canada data released today.

June’s decrease was the largest drop since September 2005 and followed a 0.8% increase in May. Inventories were drawn down mainly in the petroleum and coal industry, which fell by 7.9% to $3.4 billion.

There were numerous smaller declines as well. Transportation dropped 0.8% to $9.5 billion, mainly because of a 5.5% drop in motor vehicle inventories to $1.3 billion. Wood (-2.0%) and paper (-2.6%) inventories were down while chemicals (+1.5% to $7.3 billion) and primary metals (+0.8% to $6.4 billion) provided offsetting positive movements.

The decrease in inventories was split between declines in raw materials inventories (-1.2%) and the finished product stage of fabrication (-1.2%). Goods-in-process inventories increased by 1.0%.

The trend for total inventories over the last quarter has been relatively stable since January.