INDUSTRY PULSE: Southbound haul volumes resume downward trend
OTTAWA, Ont. For motor carriers feeling the pinch from a slowdown in US-bound traffic, the latest trade data from Statistics Canada offers no reprieve.
Export activity to the US declined 1.5% in April, according to data released by Statistics Canada today. The shrinking of exports to the US was part of an overall trend of weakened export activity to virtually all of Canada’s major trading partners. Exports overall, after a modest gain in March, declined 2.3% to $37.1 billion in April. It marked the third time in the first four months this year that export figures declined.
This year’s slump follows a sharply rising trend that had started in November 2004. Between that point and December 2005, exports rose from $35.0 billion to $40.5 billion.
Imports meanwhile continued to gain ground, registering their second consecutive gain this year, rising 1.2% to $33.1 billion. But imports from the US remained virtually flat.
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