Weak loonie cuts into Canadian travel and maple syrup prices

 

copyright the Chronicle February 24, 2016

by Nathalie Gagnon-Joseph

The increasingly weak Canadian dollar is affecting both U.S. business along the border and the price of maple syrup.

Between 2010 and 2014, the Canadian dollar’s value fluctuated right around $1 American. Since then, its value has steadily dropped, reaching a low point on January 20 of about 68 cents U.S., according to tradingeconomics.com.

Apparently, the Canadian dollar is tied to the price of oil because Canada exports a lot of it. Given that the price of oil is low, so is the loonie.

The Fédération des Producteurs Acéricoles du Québec (FPAQ) sets syrup prices in Canadian dollars, so when the loonie’s value goes down in American dollars, so does the price of syrup.

Quebec sugarmakers provide maple syrup for over 70 percent of the global market, the FPAQ website says.

Because there are so many of them, the price set for their product becomes the base price for… To read the rest of this article, and all the Chronicle‘s stories, subscribe:

Print subscription

Annual online subscription

Short-term online subscription

(To find a particular article, search for the corresponding edition of the newspaper.)