Australia's trade surplus $4.9bn in April

Australia's monthly trade surplus was little changed in April coming in a touch below both the consensus figure and the record high from February. In yesterday's National Accounts, net exports added 0.2ppt to GDP growth in Q1 that printed at 0.4% and 1.8% in year-on-year terms. 

International Trade — April | By the numbers

• The trade surplus eased by $16m in April to $A4.871bn, slightly short of the consensus forecast for $5.0bn. March's trade surplus was revised down from $4.949bn to $4.887bn.  
• Export earnings incresed by 2.5% in the month (+$968m) to $A40.425bn accelerating growth through the year to 17.2%. (prior rev: -1.6%m/m, +12.1%Y/Y) 
• Import expenditure lifted by 2.8% in April (+985m) to $A35.554bn to be up by 5.4% on a year earlier (prior rev: -1.4%m/m, +1.4%Y/Y)

International Trade — April | The details 

Earnings from goods and services exported incresed by a robust 2.5% in April, which equated to a nominal rise of $968m in $AUD terms. The underlying detail showed that this was led by non-rural goods (+2.7%, $691m), which was driven almost exclusively by iron ore exports surging by 16% (or $1.375bn) in nominal terms. ABS estimates indicated that prices for iron ore lifted by 3% for lump and by 5% for fines in April, while volumes surged by 17% and 21% respectively. Elsewhere, the volatile non-monetary gold jumped by 19.5% or by $272m in the month and services were up by 0.8% or $65m driven by overseas tourism. Rural goods declined by 1.6% or $67m. 

Turning to imports, spending lifted by 2.8% or $985m in April on broad-based increases. Intermediate goods led the way rising by 3.9% or $423m, which included a $119m rise from fuel reflecting higher global oil prices. Capital goods increased by 4.9% or $308m, reversing a 5.3% fall in March, centered on industrial equipment. Consumption goods also lifted by 3.5% ($298m) to overturn last month's 3.2% fall and was led by textiles, clothing and footwear and vehicles. Services imports were essentially flat over the month.           

International Trade — April | Insights 

A robust start to the quarter with the trade surplus in April at $4.871bn just off the record high from February but a touch above the Q1 average of $4.8bn. This is driven by very high iron ore prices, while export volumes also lifted sharply in April. Resources exports are expected to add notably to economic activity in 2019.