Canada posts first trade surplus since September 2014, exports boom

OTTAWA (Reuters) - Canada posted a trade surplus of C$526 million ($395 million) in November, its first in more than two years, as exports jumped and imports posted a modest gain, Statistics Canada said on Friday.

Analysts in a Reuters poll had forecast a C$1.60 billion deficit. Canada had not recorded a surplus since September 2014.

Exports increased by 4.3 percent - the most since June 2015 - on higher shipments of metal and non-metallic products as well as record exports to countries other than the United States. Volumes rose by 3.5 percent while prices climbed by 0.8 percent.

Imports edged up by 0.7 percent, largely due to higher imports of energy products. Volumes dipped by 0.3 percent while prices rose by 1.0 percent.

Exports to the United States, which accounted for 73.8 percent of all Canadian exports in November, grew by 2.5 percent while imports slipped by 0.7 percent. As a result, Canada's trade surplus with the United States grew to C$4.19 billion from C$3.16 billion in October.

(Reporting by David Ljunggren; Editing by Nick Zieminski)