Province stands alone with increased manufacturing sales

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This article was published 16/06/2015 (3792 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Manitoba was the lone province to post an increase in manufacturing sales in April as the country’s manufacturing sector churned out disappointment to start the second quarter.

The release of the manufacturing numbers by Statistics Canada on Monday, which showed factory sales contracted 2.1 per cent from March to April, followed the economy’s weaker than expected start to 2015, when Canada’s real gross domestic product shrank at an annualized rate of 0.6 per cent during the first three months.

In Manitoba, manufacturers shipped out $1.31 billion worth of goods during the month. That was three per cent higher than March’s total of $1.27 billion. It was also a 1.7 per cent improvement from a year earlier, when $1.29 billion worth of goods were sold. It was the third sales gain in five months for Manitoba.

Transportation equipment, which in Manitoba primarily means buses, was the category with the largest increase in sales. That sector shipped $243.8 million worth of product in April, a 35 per cent increase from March.

Ron Koslowsky, the vice-president in charge of the Manitoba chapter of the Canadian Manufacturers and Exporters, said this province’s manufacturers are holding up well.

“It’s almost too good to be true,” said Koslowsky. “We’re very pleased.”

Last week, the Manitoba CME held a large conference on lean manufacturing. The level of implementation of those efficiency-minded manufacturing techniques in Manitoba is at least one reason for the continuing resiliency.

The other nine provinces recorded month-to-month declines ranging from 0.1 per cent to 5.8 per cent.

“We actually expected (sales volumes) to rebound a little bit on the month… so, it’s a bit of a surprise, no question there,” Randall Bartlett, senior economist at TD Economics, said of the national results.

Several economists expect the Bank of Canada, which earlier projected 1.8 per cent growth in GDP for the second quarter, to downgrade that forecast next month when it releases its next monetary policy report.

 

Apartment vacancy rate rises

WINNIPEG’s spring apartment vacancy rate has edged a little higher, according to the latest market survey by Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp.

The agency said Monday Winnipeg’s overall vacancy rate climbed to 2.3 per cent in April from two per cent a year earlier.

It was a similar situation with the overall rate for Manitoba’s seven largest urban centres, which include Winnipeg. It also rose to 2.3 per cent from 2.1 per cent in April of last year.

“A higher level of migration, mostly from international sources, continues to support demand for rental units in Manitoba,” said Dianne Himbeault, CMHC’s senior market analyst for Winnipeg. “Contributing to an uptick in the vacancy rate, the universe of rental apartment units increased by 1,586 from April 2014 to April 2015, the result of additions outpacing the loss of units due to renovation or conversion to condominiums.”

The CMHC survey also found the average monthly rent for a two-bedroom apartment took a jump during the past year. In Winnipeg, it rose by 4.5 per cent to $1,033 in April from $969 a year earlier. And for Manitoba, it climbed by 4.4 per cent to $1,002 from $940.

CMHC noted while both increases were well above this year’s provincially mandated rent control guideline of 2.4 per cent, there are some exceptions that allow for increases above the guideline.

 

Bombardier’s CSeries takes off

PARIS — Bombardier’s largest commercial jet took to the skies of Paris on Monday to mark the opening of the world’s largest annual air show.

Thousands of onlookers and customers watched as the CS300 CSeries flew in grey skies following results of flight tests that showed it’s as quiet as promised.

“You will not hear it fly,” new president and CEO Alain Bellemare said minutes before the flight, accompanied by Bombardier chairman Pierre Beaudoin and his father, Laurent.

Bellemare, who has headed Bombardier since February, said the air show marks a “turning point” and a “real takeoff” for the CSeries.

“There was a lot of pressure on the program. Now we advance. We are now building a very positive momentum,” he said.

Bombardier announced Sunday the planes performed even better than expected during flight tests. Its maximum range is 12 per cent longer and the cabin can accommodate up to 15 more passengers.

Bellemare said the company can now talk to customers about the numbers, efforts that will re-energize the sales and marketing efforts. The company has 243 firm order for the CSeries, falling short of its goal of 300, and commitments for 603 orders.

At the air show, Bombardier (TSX:BBD.B) announced Swiss International Air Lines, a division of Lufthansa, will switch 10 of its 30 firm orders to the larger CS300 aircraft with 130 to 160 seats.

Swiss CEO Harry Hohmeister said the plane’s size and low operating costs complement the 110- to 130-seat CS100 and the rest of its European fleet.

The Montreal-based aerospace manufacturer also announced Monday WestJet Encore has signed firm orders for six Q400 turboprops, eventually raising the Calgary-based regional carrier’s fleet to 36 aircraft.

The five planes, plus another one booked in March, are conversions of previously announced options valued at about US$200 million, based on list prices.

 

Slow progress on Ring of Fire

THUNDER BAY, Ontario — Premier Kathleen Wynne is defending the slow progress in developing the Ring of Fire by saying it takes time to get things right.

The province has earmarked $1 billion for infrastructure in the northern Ontario mining area that holds one of the world’s richest chromite deposits as well as nickel, copper and platinum.

Speaking in Thunder Bay Monday, Wynne acknowledged she said a year ago she won’t consider her government to have been successful unless progress has been made in the Ring of Fire, but she says some progress has already been made.

She says while nothing has been built yet, and agreements with First Nations haven’t been finalized, work is a lot further along than it was one year ago.

Michael Gravelle, the minister of northern development and mines, says building up the Ring of Fire isn’t just about a transportation corridor to a mine site, it’s about opening up access to communities in the north.

He says Noront Resources is making the Ring of Fire a priority after it signed a US$20-million deal to buy claims that were owned indirectly by Cliffs Natural Resources Inc., which said in late 2013 it had suspended investment plans for the Ring of Fire area.

— staff / The Canadian Press