Business and Finance

OTTAWA–Booming energy and automotive exports pushed the country’s international merchandise trade surplus up by more than $2 billion in February, to $4.9 billion, Statistics Canada reported yesterday.

Overall, exports were up 3.8 per cent, to $39.3 billion and imports fell 2 per cent, to $34.4 billion.

The surplus was the largest recorded since May 2007.

"The hefty jump in the trade surplus is a surprise, but the real eye-opener is the fact that the improvement was driven by volumes, not booming commodity prices," Douglas Porter, the Bank of Montreal’s deputy chief economist, said in a note to clients.

"Given a backdrop of weakening U.S. spending and the loonie at parity (dampening Canadian exports), as well as still-robust Canadian spending trends, the real improvement in trade is nothing short of shocking."

The trade surplus with the United States soared to $8.1 billion, the highest level in more than a year as Canadian exports increased by 3.6 per cent and imports fell 3.4 per cent.

The trade deficit with countries other than the United States narrowed for a second straight month, falling to $3.2 billion due to rising exports to Japan and the European Union.

All sectors reported higher exports in February, with energy and automotive shipments making up two-thirds of the increase.

Automotive exports rose 11.4 per cent to $5.6 billion, the biggest jump since December 2006. Higher shipments of passenger cars powered most of the growth, although exports of motor vehicle parts rose 5 per cent and shipments of trucks and other motor vehicles increased 7.4 per cent.

Energy exports rose for the fourth month in a row, rising 3.8 per cent to a record $9.7 billion, driven by higher shipments of crude petroleum and natural gas absolutely free credit report. Exports of petroleum and coal products, electricity and coal slipped.

Exports of industrial goods and materials rose for the second month in a row, up 2.8 per cent to $8.9 billion, and exports of metals and alloys hit record levels, buoyed by gold prices, which hit a historic high in February.

Meanwhile, metal ore exports rose 12.8 per cent, largely as a result of record exports of iron ores, concentrates and scrap.

Chemical and plastics exports declined 4.3 per cent to $2.7 billion.

Exports of machinery and equipment rose 1.5 per cent to $7.5 billion, pushed by aircraft and other transportation equipment.

Forestry product shipments were up 3.9 per cent, to $2.2 billion, the first rise in 11 months. Agricultural and fishing products rose 1 per cent to a high of $3.1 billion, on record high canola exports.

The majority of import sectors lost ground in February, dragged down by widespread declines in energy products. Imports of machinery and equipment slipped 0.6 per cent to $9.5 billion, while automotive imports advanced 2.7 per cent to $6.3 billion, led by motor vehicle parts.

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