Farm supplies power wholesale sales gains in April

OTTAWA Wholesale sales rose 1.5%i n April to $49.3-billion, soaring well above expectations mainly due to a huge increase in sales of agricultural supplies, Statistics Canada reported Tuesday.

But excluding the 48.5% increase in agriculture supplies, overall sales were unchanged from March, the federal agency said.

The second biggest advance was a 1.1% rise in the machinery, equipment and supplies subsector, which partly offset a March decline.

Sales in the building material and supplies subsector rose 0.5% and the motor vehicle and parts subsector gained 0.2%.

The largest sales decrease in dollar terms came in the personal and household goods subsector, which dropped 2.2% on lower sales in the pharmaceuticals and pharmacy supplies industry.

In April, seven provinces recorded growth in wholesale sales, including the four western provinces.

The average analyst estimate had been for a slight, 0.2% increase, CIBC World Markets said in a note.

However, a huge shipment of fertilizers in April marked a restart to potash sales and exports following a soft first quarter and has confirmed that Q2 should benefit from restarts to stalled resource activity, the bank (TSX:CM) said.

The 1.3% increase in wholesale volumes suggests that April GDP will get a hearty helping hand from that sector, it said.

The Canadian Press

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Farm supplies power wholesale sales gains in April