Email to Friends
Comment (MASSIVE increases in prices paid for Australian iron ore exports by Chinese steel makers drove the country's trade balance into surplus in April, the first time since March 2002.
The Australian Bureau of Statistics reported a small trade surplus of $12 million in April, revised from an earlier-reported deficit of around $1 billion. However, the trade balance retreated back into deficit in May as the country's import bills surged, with consumer goods flooding into the country. Economists said an 8 per cent jump in consumption imports in May would ring alarm bells at the Reserve Bank of Australia, especially after yesterday's news of a 0.7 per cent gain in retail sales in May. Australia's trade balance is likely to improve in coming months as export receipts remain strong, albeit with a headwind of rising costs for fuel imports. Australian miners have locked in iron price hikes of around 85 per cent this year with Chinese buyers for the next year. Massive increases in ...
