Industrial capacity utilization rates see quarterly gain

Sept. 12, 2014 – Canadian industries operated at 82.7 per cent of their production capacity in the second quarter, up 0.6 percentage points from the first quarter and the fourth consecutive quarterly gain. Manufacturing industries as a whole were the main source of this increase, according to Statistic’s Canada’s industrial capacity utilization rates for the second quarter of 2014.

The manufacturing sector operated at 82 per cent of its capacity in the second quarter, up one percentage point from the first quarter. After declining the previous quarter, the transportation equipment and chemical product industries were mainly responsible for this increase. Declines in seven industries, particularly the primary metal industry (down 2.2 percentage points to 83.1 per cent), moderated the growth in the manufacturing sector as a whole.

The capacity utilization rate in the transportation equipment manufacturing industry rose 3.9 percentage points to a record high 93.7 per cent in the second quarter. This upturn can be attributed to widespread gains in the production of all types of transportation equipment, except ships and boats.

Chemical product manufacturers’ capacity use increased 2.5 percentage points to 76.7 per cent in the second quarter. Higher output by pharmaceutical and medicine as well as basic chemical manufacturers was mostly responsible for the 3.7 per cent production gain in the industry.