OTTAWA – Canada’s merchandise trade surplus widened last November to $ 3.1 billion from $ 2.3 billion in October.
© Provided by The Canadian Press
Statistics Canada reports that total exports rose 3.8% in November to reach $ 58.6 billion while imports rose 2.4%.
Exports of consumer goods rose 9% to $ 7.3 billion in November, mainly due to a $ 610 million increase in exports of pharmaceuticals.
In November, large shipments of COVID-19 drugs arrived in Canada for packaging and labeling. Most of the drugs were then exported within the same month, which helped boost both exports and imports.
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In fact, Canada’s total imports rose 2.4% in November to $ 55.4 billion, in large part due to atypical shipments of pharmaceutical products.
Exports of basic and industrial chemicals, plastics and rubber products increased 14.7% in November, mainly on a 58.1% increase in exports of lubricants and other refined petroleum products.
Canadian exports to the United States, which advanced 7.5% in October, rose 6.4% in November to an all-time high of $ 45.2 billion. Meanwhile, imports from the United States rose 4.9% to $ 35.4 billion, also a record.
Statistics Canada recalls that in mid-November, floods and landslides caused serious damage to infrastructure in British Columbia, which led to disruptions in the movement of goods to and from major west coast ports. Goods exported by the province therefore fell 7.8% while they rose 11% in the other provinces.
The Canadian Press
