Canada Jan international trade balance data now out 7 March
- CAD - 3.05bln prev revised up from -3.19bln
- Imports decreased 4.3%, mainly due to lower imports of industrial machinery, equipment and parts.
- Exports fell 2.1%, primarily on fewer exports of passenger cars and light trucks.
Also out;
- Q4 labour productivity qq 0.2% vs 0.1% exp vs -0.5% revised up from -0.6%
Better than expected/prev on both counts and USDCD dipping to 1.2895 but caution advised as we wait on BOC at 15.00 GMT
Say Stats Cad:
- The decrease in nominal imports and exports in January occurred as the Canadian dollar gained 2.2 UScents on average relative to the American dollar from December to January. Import prices fell 0.4%, while export prices grew 1.5%.
- However, import prices were down in 9 of 11 commodity sections, while export prices fell in every commodity section except energy products. Excluding the price of energy products, which rose sharply in January, the prices of both imports (-1.1%) and exports (-1.8%) fell.
- In real terms (or in volume), total imports fell 3.9% in January and real exports were down 3.6%.
The International Merchandise Trade released by the Statistics Canada is the difference in the value of its imports and exports of Canadian goods excluding intangibles like services. Export data can give an important reflection of Canadian growth as tangible goods like oil, gold and manufacturing dominate a large part of Canada 's GDP.
Full report here
