Australia's goods trade surplus came in at $6bn in October (vs $4.5bn expected), its widest since February. Volatile non-monetary gold drove exports to their sharpest month-to-month rise (3.6%) since August 2023. Imports were broadly flat (0.1%) with capital goods falling but intermediate and consumption goods rising.
The goods surplus widened from a downwardly revised $4.5bn in September (from $4.6bn) to $6bn in October. This was the largest monthly surplus since February's $7.1bn figure. The 3-month average for the surplus has inched up to $5.3bn, marginally up from the recent low of $4.9bn in May.
Export revenue accelerated by 3.6% for the month to $42.1bn. Yesterday's National Accounts and the balance of payments out earlier in the week reported that falling commodity prices are weighing on export income. Exports are down 9.2% over the year to October on these dynamics. In the latest month, non-monetary gold surged (43.8%) to drive the gain in exports. Non-rural goods saw a 1.3% rise, with LNG (15.4%) and iron ore exports (0.5%) outweighing a decline from coal (-6.9%). A modest decline came across in rural goods (-0.5%).
Imports were little changed (0.1%) at $36.2bn in October, down 3.1% over the year. Capital goods fell for the third month in succession posting a 2.1% decline on this occasion. This weakness was offset by gains in intermediate (1.7%) and consumption goods (0.8%).
