October 1, 2020
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The number of Canadian companies exporting rose for the third month straight in July with a 2.2% increase over the previous month. After an early hit by the pandemic when exporter growth numbers dropped 7.1%, it has been coming back and there are now 18,946 companies exporting in Canada. Large companies grew 4.2%, small to medium sized companies grow 2.1%
In Asia, export data released from China showed that it’s factory activity had accelerated in September. As noted before, the country continues its path to recovery at an impressive rate. The monthly purchasing managers index rose 51.5 from 50 the previous month (Stats: Chineses statistics agency and industry group). New export orders also rose to 50.8, up from 49.1 the previous month (source: China Federation of Logistics & Purchasing)
Staying in the region, South Korea, seen as a bellwether for regional trade announced their exports increased 7.7% to $48 billion. This is the first YOY monthly increase since february this year. Technology was the primary driver with demand for data centres accelerating through the pandemic.