(Il Sole 24 Ore Radiocor) - Milano, 17 feb - In December, Canadian wholesale sales, excluding petroleum, petroleum products and other hydrocarbons and excluding oilseed and grain, increased 2.0% month on month to 86.1 billion local dollars, following a decline in November, according to Statistics Canada.

The rise in sales reflected an increase in sales in the motor vehicle and motor vehicle parts and accessories subsector. Excluding the automotive subsector, wholesale sales rose 0.6%.

Sales rose in four of seven subsectors, representing about two-thirds of the wholesale sector.

Volumes of wholesale sales rose 2.1%.

Wholesale inventories were up 0.6% to 136.8 billion in December dollars.

The inventory-to-sales ratio fell from 1.61 in November to 1.59 in December. This ratio is a measure of the time (in months) required to exhaust inventories if sales were to.

remain at their current levels.

(RADIOCOR) 17-02-26 19:19:21 (0670) 5 NNNN