Québec, October 20, 2020. – Québec’s seasonally adjusted international merchandise exports in constant dollars were up 2.7% in August 2020 from the previous month. Despite this fourth consecutive monthly increase (+0.1% in July; +5.7% in June; and +4.7% in May), exports in August remained 11.6% below the February 2020 level, before the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic were felt.
The main commodities that contributed to the increase in exports in August were motor gasoline (+108.0%), as well as lubricants and other petroleum refinery products, nickel ores and concentrates, and copper ores and concentrates, three groups of products whose export volumes were close to zero in the previous month.
Despite the 2.7% increase in total exports in August 2020, Québec’s 25 most exported products since the beginning of the year saw their exports decline 2.0% in August compared with the previous month. Among these products, unwrought copper and copper alloys (-31.9%), fresh and frozen pork (-27.6%), iron ores and concentrates (-4.0%) and aircraft engines (-5.7%) experienced the largest declines.
In the first eight months of 2020, Québec’s international merchandise exports in constant dollars decreased by 9.6% compared with the same period in 2019.
Québec’s international merchandise imports down 4.9% in August 2020
Québec’s seasonally adjusted international merchandise imports in constant dollars were down 4.9% in August 2020 from the previous month (+12.4% in July). As a result, imports in August were 5.4% below their February 2020 level.
The decline in total imports in August was due in part to a decrease in imports of aircraft (-77.9%), conventional crude oil (-25.8%), aircraft parts and other aerospace equipment (-25.9%), and lubricants and other petroleum refinery products (-77.1%).
On the other hand, the products that had the strongest increases in imports were unwrought gold, silver, and platinum group metals and their alloys (+39.7%), basic and semi-finished products of non-ferrous metals and non-ferrous metal alloys (except gold, silver, platinum group metals and aluminum) (+333.9%), and medical, dental and personal safety supplies (+83.8%).
In the first eight months of 2020, Québec’s international merchandise imports in constant dollars fell 19.5% compared with the same months of 2019.
The situation in Canada
According to data published by Statistics Canada on October 6, Canada’s seasonally adjusted merchandise exports in constant dollars were down 0.1% in August from the previous month (+5.7% in July). For their part, Canada’s merchandise imports declined 0.8% (+13.0% in July).
In the first eight months of 2020, Canada’s merchandise exports and imports decreased by 8.7% and 13.0%, respectively, compared with the same period last year.
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International merchandise exports and imports1 (variation en pourcentage) |
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| 2019 | 2020 | ||||
| Annual change | Monthly change2 | Cumulative change2,3 | |||
| July | August | ||||
| Québec | |||||
| Exports | 0.4 | 0.1 | 2.7 | -9.6 | |
| Imports | 2.6 | 12.4 | -4.9 | -19.5 | |
| Canada | |||||
| Exports | 2.4 | 5.7 | -0.1 | -8.7 | |
| Imports | 1.3 | 13.0 | -0.8 | -13.0 | |
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1. In constant dollars, at 2012 prices. |
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International Trade Data Online: International Trade Data Online
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