EDC Export Performance Monitor, May 2017

After retreating in February, Canadian merchandise exports resumed growing in March, posting a 3.8% gain for the month. The growth was broad-based with 8 of 11 subsectors posting stronger exports and was a strong end to the first quarter of the year.
 
Growth in overall volumes contributed 2.5% to the increase in March while prices added an additional 1.3%. The biggest contributor to this growth was the energy sector (+7.0%) with exports of natural gas to the United States boosted by a colder than normal month and Canadian exports of coal increasing to fill a gap in global supplies caused by the effects of a cyclone closing Australian ports. 
 
Other subsectors experiencing strong growth were the consumer goods (+6.8%) propelled by lentil exports to India, metal and non-metallic mineral products (+7.1%) due to higher gold exports and aircraft and other transportation equipment (+8.6%). The value of industrial machinery and equipment exports (+1.3%) grew for the second consecutive month.
 
While exports of motor vehicles and parts (-1.8%) declined in March, Canadian imports of motor vehicles and parts, a leading indicators of eventual exports, grew by 1.5%. Canadian imports of machinery and equipment (+4.1%) also increased, indicating growth in Canadian business investment spending. 
 
With the March data, Canadian exports were 1.7% higher for the first quarter of 2017 than in the previous quarter.

The full report is available on the EDC website.