OTTAWA, Ont. — Business is looking up for Canadian transborder haulers.

After a surprisingly weak January for merchandise trade, both exports and imports rebounded sharply in February, the latest Statistics Canada trade figures show.

Exporters sent $34.1 billion worldwide in February, up 7.0% from January, which was the lowest level in almost five years. Strong automotive shipments to the United States led the increase. Imports reached $28.4 billion (a 6.1% rise from the previous month) on higher imports of machinery and equipment.

Canadian trucking companies have a commanding approximate 70% share of the transborder truck trade, compared to their U.S. counterparts.

The 7.0% export growth to the United States was equal, in percentage terms, to the overall export rise. The United States was also the destination for 81.0% of all export shipments during the month. In turn, Canada purchased just shy of $20 billion from the United States, up 5.8% since January. As a result, Canada’s trade surplus with this country soared to just under $8 billion.

"International merchandise trade has been volatile recently, led in large part by uncertainty in the automotive industry. This sector was influential again in February, being the largest contributor to the export rise. All trade sectors, covering both foreign-bound and incoming goods, registered gains since January," Statistics Canada comments.

Import and export prices rose only slightly in February, indicating that most of the growth was real or volume related.