International Trade — August | By the numbers
- Trade surplus in August was $A1.604bn, which was stronger than the market forecast for a surplus of $1.45bn. July's trade surplus was lowered slightly from the initial estimate of $1.551bn to $1.548bn
- The change in the monthly trade balance was +$56m (prior -$571m)
- Export credits increased by 0.5%m/m to $A36.562bn, with annual growth increasing to 15.3%
- Import debits increased by 0.4%m/m to $A34.958bn, which is 12% higher than a year ago
International Trade — August | The details
Looking at the details, Australia's export earnings increased by $185m, or 0.5%, in August to $36.562bn. Within this; non-monetary gold contributed $228m, rural goods (meat, cereal, and wool) $134m and services $45m however, non-rural goods fell by $222m.
The decline from non-rural goods was impacted mostly by weakness from iron-ore and coal, which looks to be influenced by lower volumes, although this was moderated by a strong increase from 'other mineral fuels' of $166m, which is supported by LNG exports, and 'other non-rural' (sugar, honey and beverages etc) rising by $151m.
Earnings from services exports lifted by $45m in August to $7.611bn, with tourism contributing $28m towards the overall increase.
Australia's import bill increased by $130m in August to $34.958bn, which represented a lift of 0.4%. In line with business investment trending up, imported capital goods have been rising — the increase in August was 9% ($569m), although that was impacted by a sharp increase in civil aircraft. Consumption goods imports also lifted modestly, rising by $32m in August. Those gains were moderated by a $264m decline in intermediate goods, which was led by fuels and lubricants.
Meanwhile, services imports rose by $83m to $8.094bn on the back of an $81m increase in tourism-related services, which includes business, education-related and personal travel.
International Trade — August | Insights
August's trade surplus was another strong result. Averaging the past 2-months, the trade surplus is around $1.58bn and is tracking ahead of Q2's average of $1.28bn. This is reflective of stronger prices for key commodities, but this is moderated by some softness in export volumes of iron-ore and coal. International trade added 0.1ppt to GDP growth in Q2 and at this stage, another broadly flat result appears likely for Q3, with some risk of a subtraction.
Meanwhile, services imports rose by $83m to $8.094bn on the back of an $81m increase in tourism-related services, which includes business, education-related and personal travel.
International Trade — August | Insights
August's trade surplus was another strong result. Averaging the past 2-months, the trade surplus is around $1.58bn and is tracking ahead of Q2's average of $1.28bn. This is reflective of stronger prices for key commodities, but this is moderated by some softness in export volumes of iron-ore and coal. International trade added 0.1ppt to GDP growth in Q2 and at this stage, another broadly flat result appears likely for Q3, with some risk of a subtraction.
