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(Reuters)
OTTAWA (Reuters) - Rising prices for oil and natural gas exports boosted Canada's trade surplus to C$5.53 billion ($5.48 billion) in March, above expectations for a third straight month and the highest level since May of last year, Statistics Canada said on Friday.
Analysts in a Reuters poll had forecast, on average, a trade surplus of C$4.5 billion. Statscan revised the February surplus to C$4.79 billion from C$4.94 billion previously.
Exports climbed 1.6 percent in March to C$40.06 billion thanks to sharp price hikes for natural gas and petroleum although volume of shipments of those commodities fell. Energy product exports surpassed C$10 billion for the first time.
But exports of trucks and other motor vehicles tumbled almost 30 percent to a two-decade low and exports of lumber and sawmill products fell to their lowest since 1992 due to the U.S. housing crash.
Imports declined 0.3 percent to C$34.53 billion as labor disruptions in the United States caused automotive product imports to drop 11.4 percent, the worst since August 2003.
Despite the U.S. economic slowdown, overall Canadian exports to its top trading partner eked out a monthly gain of 0.7 percent and the trade surplus with the United States widened to C$8.63 billion from C$8.29 billion in February.
Exports to non-U.S. partners grew 4.5 percent and the deficit with those countries fell to C$3.09 billion.
(Reporting by Louise Egan; editing by Janet Guttsman)
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