Invest in Canada

Canada’s trade surplus narrows by $1.1-billion

by investor on 13/11/08 at 1:39 pm

Canada’s trade surplus declined by more than $1-billion in September to $4.5-billion – a nine-month low – as exports declined and imports rose, Statistics Canada said Thursday. The surplus was $5.6-billion in August.

Flat volumes and falling prices caused Canadian exports to decline for the second consecutive month, dropping 1 per cent to $42.5-billion, Statscan said, with industrial goods and materials, automotive products and energy products leading the retreat.

Imports increased by 1.9 per cent in September to $38-billion, as both prices and volumes increased, Statscan said. Industrial goods and materials, automotive products, and energy products lead declining exports. Economists forecast further declines in the coming months as economic problems mount in the United States and elsewhere.

“With the bottom dropping out of commodity prices and U.S. spending hitting the wall, look for Canada’s trade surplus to deteriorate rapidly in the months ahead in both nominal and volume terms,” Bank of Montreal economist Douglas Porter said in a research note.

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