The steady expansion in the value of Canadian food exports faltered during the first half of the year, government trade figures released last week indicate.
After several years of steady growth, the value of Canadian food exports shrank during the first six months of the year.
The country’s food trade surplus has shrunk as the value of exports fell and the value of imports surged.
However, an Agriculture Canada trade official said it does not mean the steady growth in export value is over.
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“I think we’re seeing a temporary blip here,” said Lawrence Dickenson, director general of the department’s international markets bureau. “And there is some good news here. Exports of consumer oriented products is up. Where we saw slippage was on the bulk.”
According to Statistics Canada, exports of agricultural and fishing products in the January through June period fell $56 million from last year’s levels to $11.05 billion.
The biggest declines came in the value of wheat and barley exports, down close to $700 million. Wheat sales fell $600 million to just over $2 billion.
Dickenson said lower prices, export problems at the West Coast during the winter and fewer grain purchases by China all contributed to lower bulk export numbers.
Faltering grain sales more than wiped out the effects of strong exports of meat.
While the value of live animal exports declined $36 million to $916 million during the first half of 1997, sales of meat surged 23 percent to $1.2 billion.
Breaks a growing trend
The declining overall value of food exports halts a trend that has seen the value of exports jump more than 50 percent during the past four years to $20 billion in 1996.
Federal and provincial agriculture ministers this summer predicted the value of food exports will continue to increase, perhaps topping $23 billion by the year 2000.
Export numbers were faltering just as Canadians were buying more imported food.
Statistics Canada reports the value of food imports during the first six months increased $631 million to $7.5 billion.
It meant the Canadian food trade surplus for the first half of the year shrank to $3.55 billion from $4.24 billion in 1996.
