Canadian industrial capacity use fell in the second quarter after seven consecutive gains as the Japanese tsunami cut the supply of parts needed to make cars, Statistics Canada said on Wednesday.
Industries operated at 78.4% of their potential output in the period, down from 78.9% in the first quarter, revised down from 79% previously.
Markets had expected a 78 percent capacity utilization rate, according to the median forecast in a Reuters poll.
In manufacturing industries specifically, the rate declined to 78.8% from 79.6%.
Production at Canadian motor vehicle plants slowed sharply in April following the disaster in Japan, and continued to decline slightly in May. Output recovered in June but not fully.
As a result, capacity use in the transportation equipment industry plunged 4.5 percentage points to 79.6%. Capacity use fell in 15 of 21 industries, and other major contributors to the decline were beverage and tobacco products, chemicals and nonmetallic mineral products.
Despite the decline, the capacity use rate remained higher than in the 2008-2010 period but below the 80 to 90% rates recorded between 1993 and 2007.
