Canada 2009 auto exports seen better than '08-report

* Canada auto exports seen down 3 pct in 2009

* U.S. bailout could hurt output in Canada, Mexico

* Capacity use rates may fall as low as 50 pct in 2009

OTTAWA, May 28 (Reuters) - Canadian automotive exports are expected to decline slightly this year but price hikes will mean a vast improvement over 2008, government agency Export Development Canada said on Thursday.

In a report, EDC chief economist Peter Hall forecast a 3 percent decline in exports of vehicles and automotive parts this year, compared with a 21.9 percent slide last year.

He said that despite poor sales volumes of cars, trucks and parts to the recession-hit United States and some price cuts, the agency expects export prices to "rise solidly on gains related to the depreciation of the Canadian dollar".

"Mitigated by the positive price effects of the loonie, nominal exports will fall by only 3 percent in 2009. Demand will begin to recover in 2010, driven by inventory rundowns, an aging fleet of vehicles and demographic factors," Hall wrote in a report researched over the past month.

The Canadian dollar fell to a four-year low against the U.S. dollar in early March but has since risen sharply and even briefly broke through the 90 U.S. cent mark on Wednesday, marking a climb of more than 17 percent since the March lows.

Hall saw auto exports jumping 12 percent in 2010.