Canada posts first trade surplus since 2014, exports boom

Canada posted a trade surplus of $526-million in November, its first in more than two years, as exports jumped and imports posted a modest gain, Statistics Canada said on Friday.

Analysts in a Reuters poll had forecast a $1.60-billion deficit. Canada had not recorded a surplus since September 2014.

Exports increased by 4.3 per cent – the most since June 2015 – on higher shipments of metal and non-metallic products as well as record exports to countries other than the United States. Volumes rose by 3.5 per cent while prices climbed by 0.8 per cent.

Imports edged up by 0.7 per cent, largely due to higher imports of energy products. Volumes dipped by 0.3 per cent while prices rose by 1.0 per cent.

Exports to the United States, which accounted for 73.8 per cent of all Canadian exports in November, grew by 2.5 per cent while imports slipped by 0.7 per cent. As a result, Canada’s trade surplus with the United States grew to $4.19-billion from $3.16-billion in October. Read more….