Canada’s exports edged up 0.2 percent in September to 78.6 billion dollars, following a 3.2 percent increase in August, while imports decreased 0.3 percent to 73.2 billion dollars, widening the merchandise trade surplus from 5.0 billion dollars in August to 5.4 billion dollars. Energy products rose 8.2 percent, with crude oil and bitumen up 10.2 percent on higher prices and natural gas up 32.1 percent, and metal and non-metallic mineral products rose 8.6 percent on a 16.8 percent jump in unwrought gold shipments, largely to United States buyers.
Outside those two sections the picture was weaker: exports declined in 8 of the 11 product sections and fell 5.6 percent excluding energy and metals, and total exports were down 4.0 percent in real volume terms. Imports of motor vehicles and parts fell 9.1 percent, while electronic and electrical equipment imports rose 10.3 percent to a record, led by a 29.4 percent rise in computers and computer peripherals on higher imports of data centre processing units from the United States. Canada’s surplus with the United States widened from 12.1 billion dollars to 12.3 billion dollars.