April 2012 Manufacturers’ Shipments, Inventories and New Orders

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According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the value of shipments, inventories and new orders were mixed during April for the sectors and industries we track.
 

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Shipments, down following four consecutive monthly increases, decreased $1.5 billion (0.3 percent) to $473.2 billion. This followed a 0.1 percent March increase. Shipments of durable goods increased $1.4 billion (0.6 percent) to $222.5 billion, led by transportation equipment.

Nondurable goods shipments decreased $2.9 billion (1.1 percent) to $250.8 billion. Petroleum and coal products drove the decrease with a drop of $3.2 billion (4.4 percent) to $69.8 billion -- the largest decline in petroleum and coal products since a 7.9 percent decrease in July 2009.

Wood and Paper shipments rose 0.8 and 0.4 percent, respectively.
 

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Data from the Association of American Railroads (AAR) and the Ceridian-UCLA Pulse of Commerce Index (PCI) help round out the picture on goods shipments. AAR reported a 0.9 percent decrease in not-seasonally adjusted rail shipments in April (relative to March), and a 5.5 percent drop from a year earlier. The reason give the for the year-over-year decline was decreased coal shipments; excluding coal carloads, shipments increased 3.2 percent. Seasonal adjustments amplified the 0.9 percent March-to-April decrease to a 2.0 percent drop. Except for Pulp & Paper Products, rail shipments of forest-related products were higher in April than a year earlier.

The PCI, which tracks diesel use for over-the-highway trucking, rose by 0.1 percent on a seasonally and workday adjusted basis in April. The PCI’s rise disagreed with the American Trucking Associations’ (ATA) advance seasonally adjusted For-Hire Truck Tonnage Index, which fell by 1.1 percent in April.
 

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Inventories, up 22 of the last 23 months, increased $0.1 billion to $607.2 billion -- once again the highest level since the series was first published on a NAICS basis in 1992 and followed a 0.1 percent March increase. The inventories-to-shipments ratio was 1.28, unchanged from March.

Inventories of durable goods increased $1.2 billion (0.3 percent) to $364.2 billion, led by machinery. Nondurable goods inventories decreased $1.2 billion (0.5 percent) to $243.1 billion, led again by petroleum and coal products.

Wood inventories jumped by 0.7 percent while Paper was unchanged.
 

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New orders for manufactured goods, down three of the last four months, decreased $2.9 billion (0.6 percent) to $466.0 billion in April. This followed a 2.1 percent March decrease. Excluding transportation, new orders decreased 1.1 percent.

New orders for durable goods decreased $0.1 billion to $215.2 billion, led by machinery. Nondurable goods orders decreased $2.9 billion (1.1 percent) to $250.8 billion.