Canada's trade surplus fell to C$5.23 billion ($3.96 billion) in January from December's C$5.42 billion surplus largely due to slumping auto exports, Statistics Canada said on Wednesday. "Automotive products caused the lion's share of trade declines, accounting for over half of the decline in exports and over a third of the decline in imports," Statscan added.
A survey of analysts had forecast the trade surplus would be C$5.10 billion in January. "Exports have declined in seven of the last 10 months, and the 4.7 percent drop from December was the largest in nine months," Statscan said. January's exports fell to C$31.85 billion from December's C$33.43 billion. January's imports fell to their lowest level since June 1999 to C$26.61 billion compared to C$28.01 billion in December, Statscan said. Imports fell 5.0 percent in January from December.||