World Business
Australian trade balance swung to a surplus in April
(Agencies)
Updated: 2010-06-03 14:19
 |
Large Medium Small |
Australia's trade balance unexpectedly swung to a surplus in April as exports of iron ore jumped by a quarter and coal shipments surged 40 percent.
The trade surplus was A$134 million ($113 million), compared with a revised deficit of A$2.04 billion in March, the Bureau of Statistics said in a report in Sydney today. The median estimate in a Bloomberg News survey of 19 economists was for a shortfall of A$800 million.
The surplus comes after a surge in prices for iron ore and coal shipped by companies including BHP Billiton Ltd and Rio Tinto Group. Demand from China for resources is stoking a mining boom that will help Australia's economic growth almost double in the next two years, according to the central bank, which has boosted borrowing costs six times since early October.
"The improvement in the trade position is substantial," Joshua Williamson, an economist at Citigroup Inc in Sydney, said ahead of today's report. "Australian dollar denominated non-rural commodity prices rose by 17 percent in the month."
Exports gained 11 percent to A$22.7 billion, today's report showed. Metal ores including iron ore rose 25 percent and coal shipments surged 40 percent. Imports were unchanged in April at A$22.5 billion.
Increasing demand from Asia is stoking an investment boom in Australia's resources industries that is forecast by the central bank to last more than a decade.
| ||||
Concern that the mining boom may worsen a shortage of workers and drive up inflation are among reasons Governor Glenn Stevens has increased the central bank's overnight cash rate target from a half-century low of 3 percent in early October to 4.5 percent last month.
The number of workers in Australia's mining industry almost doubled to 174,500 in the three months through February from 94,900 in the same period in 2003, according to estimates from the statistics bureau.