Canada’s food trade hit new export and surplus records last year as the trend toward value-added sales continued.
Preliminary merchandise trade figures compiled by Statistics Canada and published last week indicated the value of food exports last year hit a record $18.8 billion, a 7.2 percent jump from 1995 levels.
The surplus of exports over imports was $5.6 billion, almost 17 percent higher than year-earlier levels. There was a clear trend toward increased exports of value-added products.
The 1996 results move the country closer to achieving the $20 billion export target for the year 2000 set by federal and provincial agriculture ministers four years ago and endorsed by the food industry.
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In fact, if recent growth trends continue this year, the goal may be reached in 1997.
Release of preliminary results from last year coincided with announcement of a 26-member Canadian Agrifood Marketing Council with Ken Matchett of Xcan Grain Pool Ltd. as co-chair.
“Exports of Canadian agriculture and food products set an all-time record of $17.5 billion in 1995,” trade minister Art Eggleton said when announcing the new trade advisory council last week. “We want to do even better and that’s where the council comes in.”
The 1996 results could have been higher if not for the grain transportation snarls which began to develop late last year on the Prairies.
The value of grains and oilseeds exports fell 4.7 percent to $3.9 billion, the only major commodity to show a decline.
Transportation problems
Late in the year, “wheat shipments dropped precipitously (20.1 percent), reflecting weather-related transportation delays both in the Prairies and at West Coast ports,” said the federal agency last week.
Otherwise, the food trade news was positive.
Government officials who began poring over numbers last week to find trends and to interpret the significance of trade results noted the trend to higher-valued products.
The value of canola seed exports fell somewhat to just over $1 billion, according to the Statistics Canada numbers. Exports of canola oil, though, were up seven percent while canola meal exports soared 30 percent.
The same trend was evident in the cattle and beef trade.
The value of live cattle exports was up sharply to $1.9 billion but the value of fresh, frozen and chilled beef exports also climbed 22 percent to $675 million.
And the value of consumer-ready products exported was up 15 percent to $6.8 billion.
