With the fifth consecutive monthly increase, Alberta’s seasonally adjusted manufacturing shipments climbed $564 million (+7.2%) to reach $8.4 billion in February.

Refined petroleum products, the largest sub-sector, rose by $255 million (+12.3%) and was responsible for 45% of the provincial gain. Meanwhile, the value of food and wood product sales also jumped and offset a pullback in chemical shipments.

On an unadjusted basis, factory sales were up $3.6 billion (+31.8%) year-to-date, with significant gains in the majority of the sub-sectors. Compared to other provinces, Alberta is currently riding second (in terms of percentage year-to-date growth) after Saskatchewan and New Brunswick.

After accounting for seasonality, national shipments were up by $2.7 billion (+4.2%) in February, with transportation equipment sales driving one-third of the increase. Aggregating the unadjusted data over the first two months, sales were up by $18.4 billion (+17.9%) from the same point in 2021.

Higher commodity prices in the wake of tight supplies and strong demand continue to abet the value of manufacturing shipments in the country. Industrial prices of refined petroleum, wood and food manufacturing products stood 46%, 20% and 10% higher, respectively, year-to-date through February.

Looking ahead, we can expect the ongoing Russian invasion of Ukraine to put additional upward pressure on manufacturing prices in future months.

Answer to the previous trivia question: Fort Knox currently houses about 147 million troy ounces of gold.

Today’s trivia question: Which famous ship sank on its maiden voyage during the early hours of April 15, 1912?