With consecutive monthly gains since October last year, the value of Alberta’s seasonally adjusted manufacturing shipments climbed $584 million (+6.5%) to reach $9.5 billion in April.

This was mostly due to gains in three of its largest sub-components: petroleum and coal (+15%), food (+1%) and chemical (+15%) products. Meanwhile, the value of fabricated metal product shipments (-13%) declined after a sharp increase in March.

On an unadjusted basis, factory sales rose $8.6 billion (+34%) over the first four months of the year with double-digit percentage gains in the majority of the sub-groups.

Note that prices have an important role to play here. The global supply disruptions due to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine have pushed prices of commodities such as refined petroleum products and base metals through the roof. National industrial product prices of manufacturing goods were up by 16.7% year-to-date and, as a result, were responsible for nearly half of the increase in manufacturing shipment revenue posted in Alberta.

Nationally, seasonally adjusted factory shipments grew $1.2 billion (+1.7%) in April with Alberta leading all provinces.

Answer to the previous trivia question: The octane rating of gasoline tells us how efficiently the fuel burns. An octane rating of 87 (regular grade gas) means the fuel burns as well as 87% pure octane.

Today’s trivia question: In what year was the Ford Model T car introduced?