Australia's trade surplus narrowed to $5.4bn in April, a lower-than-expected figure ($6bn) from $6.9bn in March. Exports slowed (-2.4%) after surging at their fastest pace in 3 years in the previous month, partly linked to trade activity brought forward ahead of the US administration's liberation day tariffs. Imports (1.1%) rebounded from a larger fall in March.
The monthly trade surplus narrowed by $1.5bn in April to $5.4bn, averaging $5.1bn across the past 3 months. Cycle peaks were seen around 3 years ago now after commodity prices soared coming out of the pandemic, resulting in export growth far outpacing imports. The trade surplus has come off those highs in the years since as commodity prices have retraced, while spending on imports has held up.
Monthly exports fell by 2.4% to $44.1bn, a lift of 4% on its level from 12 months prior. The decline was driven by non-rural goods (-2.1%) and non-monetary gold (-17.6%), the latter retracing after US-bound exports were frontloaded into March (25.9%). Weakness in iron ore (-4.7%) and coal (-16.1%) weighed on non-rural goods. Going against the tide, rural goods advanced (9.4%) - their strongest gain in 5 months.
Import spending lifted by 1.1% to $38.7bn, rebounding from a 2.4% fall in March. Growth over the year was running at a 5.6% pace. Intermediate goods (-5.3%) declined as the value of fuel imports fell due to weaker oil prices but the other major categories rose. Capital goods saw a 7.5% rise boosted by ADP equipment (25%). A 2.8% rise came through in consumption goods with vehicles (6.6%) and clothing and footwear (6.3%) the leading components.
