Consumer goods exports fell 6.3% in November: Statistics Canada

Canada's merchandise trade balance slipped into a small deficit in November as energy exports fell amid lower prices, Statistics Canada said Thursday (Nov. 5).

The agency said trade balance came in at a deficit of $41 million for November compared with a revised surplus of $130 million in October.

CIBC senior economist Andrew Grantham said the weakness in exports and imports during November appeared to largely reflect lower energy prices and monthly volatility within areas such as pharmaceutical products.

"However, there are some signposts of weakening global and domestic demand as well, particularly the decline in imports of toys and games suggesting that more discretionary goods spending is weakening in line with the rise in interest rates,'' Grantham wrote in a report.

Total exports fell 2.3% in November to $64.4 billion as exports of energy products fell 4.7%. Coal exports fell 24.3%, while natural gas exports dropped 13.1% and crude oil and bitumen exports lost 1.8%. Exports of refined petroleum energy products moved down 7.9%.

Exports of consumer goods also fell 6.3%, while motor vehicles and parts lost 6.4%.

Excluding energy products, overall exports were down 1.5%.

Meanwhile, imports fell 2.1% in November to $64.4 billion as consumer goods imports fell 5.7%, weighed down by a 11.5% drop in pharmaceutical and medicinal products. Imports of miscellaneous goods and supplies also fell 9.6%, partly because of lower imports of toys and games.

Imports of metal and non-metallic mineral products dropped 7.9% in November.

In volume terms, total exports fell 1.4% in November, while imports were down 0.7%.

Regionally, Canada's trade deficit with countries other than the U.S. was $7.3 billion in November compared with $8.4 billion in October as imports from China fell.

The country's merchandise trade surplus with the U.S. was $7.3 billion in November compared with $8.6 billion in October as exports to the U.S. fell 2.6% and imports from edged down 0.1%.

In a separate report, Statistics Canada said the country's monthly international trade in services deficit narrowed to $1.4 billion in November compared with $2.1 billion in October. Exports of services rose 2% to $14.1 billion, while imports fell 2.3% to $15.5 billion.

When international trade in goods and services were combined, the agency said Canada's trade deficit was $1.5 billion in November compared with $1.9 billion in October.