Canada’s merchandise trade surplus narrowed in June as the value of crude oil and transportation equipment shipments declined, a weak end to a strong quarter.

The surplus shrank to $136 million, from a revised $556 million in May, Statistics Canada said Friday in Ottawa. Crude exports fell for the first time this year, declining 8.6 per cent, reflecting a drop in prices.

It was a better result than economists had expected -- the median forecast in a Bloomberg survey was for a deficit of $300 million. On a quarterly basis, however, export volumes were up the most since 2014.

Website issues at the central statistics agency delayed the release of the data by nearly 30 seconds.

Key Insights

• Friday’s report lends credence to the Bank of Canada’s view that exports will help the economy recover from an extremely weak period at the end of 2018 and the beginning of this year. That should give it more ammunition to remain on the sidelines while the Federal Reserve cuts rates.
• In June, crude oil export prices fell 13.5 per cent, while volumes rose 5.6 per cent. On a quarterly basis, export volumes -- the variable that goes into calculations of real growth -- rose 4.1 per cenbt, the most since mid-2014, when global prices started a major decline.
• June, the first full month of data after the Trump administration lifted metals tariffs, saw a 16 per cent increase in steel shipments to the U.S.

Get More

• Exports of aircraft and other transportation equipment and parts fell 25 per cent in June, however on the quarter aircraft exports were up 39 per cent.
• Total imports fell 4.3 per cent on the month.

--With assistance from Erik Hertzberg