Australian Trade Deficit Narrows In June

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Australia recorded a smaller trade deficit in June, reflecting a faster rise in exports, the Australian Bureau of Statistics said Wednesday.

The trade deficit stood at a seasonally adjusted A$ 0.441 billion in June, smaller than the deficit of A$ 0.737 billion in May, and lower than economists' expectations of a deficit of A$0.8 billion.

Total exports rose a seasonally adjusted 2% or by A$310 million month-on-month to A$20.39 billion, while imports increased by A$13 million to A$20.84 billion.

In June, other goods exports rose 13%, with the non-monetary gold component rising 17%. Non-rural as well as rural goods exports increased 1%. However, export of services declined. Among the debit items, imports of intermediate and other merchandise goods rose 4%, with the fuel and lubricant component climbing 13%. Import of consumption goods increased 4%, while that of capital goods and services increased 1% each. The increases were partly offset by a fall in other goods imports by 48%, mainly due to a 45% drop in decline in the non-monetary gold component.

Meanwhile, exports of goods climbed 26.8% year-on-year in June to A$231.7 billion, on the basis of the original estimates, while the corresponding imports rose 8.9% to A$223.5 billion.

Within the goods category, exports of coal, coke and briquettes showed the maximum rise, surging 122.8%. At the same time, the slowest growth in exports of 1.8% was for machinery. Most other groups showed double digit rise in exports. However, the steepest fall of 17% was for exports of wool and sheepskins, followed by a 16.5% drop in repair of goods.

For the imports, capital goods imports showed the fastest rise of 98.2%, followed by a 74.4% increase in the repair of goods category. Imports of non-industrial transport equipment showed the steepest decline, falling 21.5%.

In a report released on Tuesday, the Reserve Bank of Australia said the index of commodity prices in SDR terms fell 0.3% month-on-month in July, after a revised 0.5% rise in the preceding month. In Australian dollars however, the index remained broadly unchanged in July, following a revised 3.8% dip in the preceding month.

Australia recorded a smaller trade deficit in June, reflecting a faster rise in exports, the Australian Bureau of Statistics said Wednesday. (Market News Provided by RTTNews)