Australia: Solid trade surplus, but well off its highs – ANZ

ANZ analysts point out that Australia’s monthly trade surplus fell to AUD4,502m in October, a large fall on the revised September result but still a solid surplus.

Key Quotes

“Total resource exports fell 10.4% m/m in October but are still 3.7% higher than a year ago. The large decline reflects falls across most resource exports, in particular iron ore, which fell 10.9% m/m, and non-monetary gold, which was down 24.7% m/m. Nevertheless, non-monetary gold exports are up 77.3% compared to a year ago. The RBA’s commodity price index was down 6.6% in the month, which suggests that some of the decline in resource exports was due to lower volumes. Manufacturing had a solid month, up 9.2% m/m, while rural goods were up 2.8% m/m. Service exports grew, up 0.5% m/m, but at a slower pace than earlier this year.”

“Capital imports excluding civil aircraft fell 3.4% m/m, reversing the strong growth in the previous month. Most of the fall was in telecommunication equipment. Fuel imports were up 6.4% m/m in the month, possibly reflecting the rise in oil prices in October.”