(Ottawa) Manufacturing sales rose 1.6% to $71.9 billion in July, boosted by higher sales of food, petroleum and coal products and transportation equipment, reported Friday Statistics Canada.

The increase followed a 2.0% decrease for the month of June, the federal agency said.

Food sales rose 3.1% to 12.4 billion in July, as the grain and oilseed milling group gained 25.5%, partly due to a recovery of the activities of certain grinding plants after their closure for maintenance in June, explained Statistics Canada.

Meanwhile, rising prices helped sales of petroleum and coal products rise 4.6% to 7.5 billion in July, while those of motor vehicles rose 3.5% to 5 .8 billion — their highest level since May 2017. Sales of automotive parts increased 3.5% to 3.3 billion.

Sales of paper products fell 4.6% to 2.6 billion as more than half of B.C.’s paper product manufacturers were affected by the strike at the province’s ports in July.

Expressed in constant dollars, overall manufacturing sales increased 0.9% in July.