Industrial Chemicals and Synthetic Resins

Detailed information for October 2002

The monthly survey, Industrial Chemicals and Synthetic Resins, measures quantities of selected industrial chemicals and new virgin resins (excluding compounding or colouring ingredients) that are produced by Canadian manufacturers.

Data release - December 12, 2002

• Questionnaire(s) and reporting guide(s)
• Description
• Data sources and methodology
• Data accuracy

Description

This survey measures, on a monthly basis, the quantities of selected industrial chemicals and new virgin resins (excluding compounding or colouring ingredients) that are produced by Canadian manufacturers.

The quantities of industrial chemicals and new virgin resins produced are used as an indicator of the economic condition of the chemical manufacturing industry; as an input to Canada's Gross Domestic Product and as an input into macro- and micro-economic studies to determine market shares and industry trends. Data are used by the business community, trade associations (including the Canadian Chemical Producers' Association), federal and provincial departments and international organizations.

Reference period: Month

Collection period: During the month following the reference month.

Subjects

• Chemicals, plastics and rubber
• Manufacturing

Data sources and methodology

Target population

The target population for this survey includes manufacturers in Canada of industrial chemicals and synthetic resins as defined in the Standard Classification of Goods (SCG), that report these products to the Annual Survey of Manufactures and Logging or ASML (record number 2103). This means that estimates from this monthly survey do not cover the entire universe of industrial chemicals and synthetic resins producers in Canada, because the ASML does not survey all businesses. Instead, the ASML uses administrative data to cover the small and medium-sized establishments. These manufacturers are not part of this monthly survey.

• Additional documentation

Instrument design

The questionnaire for this survey has remained stable over the years, although the format and wording has been modified to maintain its relevance based on feedback from survey respondents and data users.

Regular dialogue is maintained with the Canadian Chemical Producers' Association (CCPA) and the respondents, and every effort is made to ensure questions asked are relevant and can be answered by the manufacturers.

Sampling

This survey is a census with a cross-sectional design.

This methodology does not apply.

Data sources

Responding to this survey is mandatory.

Data are collected directly from survey respondents.

Data are collected each month from survey respondents using a mail-out / mail-back process. Data capture and preliminary editing are performed simultaneously to ensure validity of the data. Businesses from whom no response has been received or whose data may contain errors are followed-up by telephone or fax.

Under normal circumstance, data are collected, captured, edited, tabulated and published within 6-7 weeks after the reference month.

View the Questionnaire(s) and reporting guide(s) .

Error detection

In order to detect errors and internal inconsistencies, automated edits are applied to captured data to verify that totals equal the sum of components and that the data are consistent with previous month's data. Data that fail the edits are subject to manual inspection and possible corrective action.

In addition, subject matter experts analyse the data at a more aggregate level to detect and verify any large month-to-month or year-over-year changes for the industry.

Imputation

Missing data for the current month are imputed automatically by applying to the previous month's value, the month-to-month change observed for the same period in the previous year, for the unit in question. However, an option exists for analysts to manually override this imputation with a better estimate based on pertinent knowledge about the industry or the business.

Estimation

This methodology type does not apply to this statistical program.

Quality evaluation

Survey results are analyzed to ensure comparability with patterns observed in the historical data series and the economic condition of the industry. Information available from other sources such as the media, other government organizations, and industry associations, are also used in the validation process.

Disclosure control

Statistics Canada is prohibited by law from releasing any information it collects which could identify any person, business, or organization, unless consent has been given by the respondent or as permitted by the Statistics Act. Various confidentiality rules are applied to all data that are released or published to prevent the publication or disclosure of any information deemed confidential. If necessary, data are suppressed to prevent direct or residual disclosure of identifiable data.

Confidentiality analysis includes the detection of possible direct disclosure, which occurs when the value in a tabulation cell is composed of a few respondents or when the cell is dominated by a few companies.

Data accuracy

Based on the 1999 Annual Survey of Manufactures, this survey accounts for 99% of the production of new virgin resins and 100% of the production of the selected industrial chemicals.

For the most recent twelve months ending in December, the degree of estimation for non-response is indicated beside each commodity in the publication using the following symbols:

Symbol % Estimated
A 0.0%
B Less than 1.0%
C 1.0% to 2.5%
D 2.6% to 5.0%