Australia's goods trade surplus retraced from $10.1bn to $7.3bn in February (vs $10.8bn expected), its lowest level since last September. Exports declined in the month (-2.2%) as iron ore prices pulled back, while imports advanced (4.8%) on strength in intermediate and consumption goods.
The trade surplus fell by $2.8bn in February printing at $7.3bn, a 5-month low as exports weakened and imports lifted - a reversal of the recent trend. With backward revisions lowering the surpluses earlier reported for January ($10.1bn from $11bn) and December ($9.9bn from $10.7bn), the surplus averaged $9.1bn for the 3 months through February - a pullback from a rising trend through late 2023/early 2024.
Exports declined by 2.2% in February, their largest fall in 5 months, to come in at $45.5bn (-6.4%yr). This weakness was driven largely by falling iron ore prices, leading the value of iron ore exports to decline by 8.4% in the month to $14.6bn. However, the value of coal (9.6%) and LNG exports (4.1%) increased, leaving non-rural goods broadly steady on the month ($37.2bn). Non-monetary gold (-21.9%) and rural goods (-4.5%) also weighed on exports, the latter falling on declines in cereal (-21.1%) and meat exports (-7.4%).
Import spending increased by 4.8% to $38.2bn in February, a rise of 11.8% over the year. This was the strongest lift in imports since the 7.8% rise in September. The largest contribution to higher imports came from intermediate goods, the category rising at its fastest pace since May 2022 (9.4%) and touching its highest level back to November 2022, as processed industrial supplies surged (15.9%). Consumption goods posted a 2.8% rise, despite weaker vehicle imports this month (-8.6%). Meanwhile, the value of capital goods imports fell modestly (-0.7%m/m).
