Australia's trade surplus hits record in June - ANZ

ANZ's analysts note that Australia’s monthly trade balance climbed to a new high in June, coming in at an AUD 8,036m surplus, the highest on record by some margin.

• “Underlying this was a 1.4% m/m rise in exports and a 3.6% m/m fall in imports. This surplus was an export and import goods story, with service exports and imports broadly unchanged for the month.
• Resource exports continued to grow, up 2.6% m/m in June. Metal ores and minerals, which were up 4.9% in the month, are the primary drivers of this increase. We expect iron ore prices to remain elevated, helping maintain Australia’s strong surplus over the coming months. Rural goods sales were lower: cereals down 35.7%, meat exports up 8.0% and wool down 18.6%.
• Capital goods imports were down 4.7% m/m, reflecting falls across most categories. Civil aircraft imports were down 45.8% m/m, following the surge of 67.1% in the previous month. Intermediate goods imports were broadly unchanged. With oil prices down throughout most of June, fuel imports fell 10.8%. Consumption goods imports were down 5.1% m/m, reflecting declines across most categories.”