Australia racked up a record $4.801 billion trade surplus in February, it’s second in a row after a surplus of $4.351 billion in January.
While exports were flat for the month imports fell 1%, the Australian Bureau of Statistics said in the February trade report.
Market consensus was for the trade balance to drop to a surplus of $3.7 billion.
For the three months to February, the trade surplus has totalled $13 billion.
January’s surplus — previously reported at $4.55 billion — was revised down to $4.35 billion.
During the month, exports rose by 0.2% to a record high of $39.83 billion, seasonally adjusted.
Non-rural goods exports — the largest category in dollar terms — rose by $127 million from January.
February saw the value exports of metal ores and minerals, mostly iron ore, surged by $958 million, helping to offset a steep $760 million drop in the value of coal exports.
The surge in iron ore largely reflects higher prices following supply disruptions in Brazil stemming from a mining disaster in January 25. The large drop in coal exports reflects delays in Australian shipments being processed at Chinese ports during the month.
The other of Australia’s big three commodity exports — LNG — increased by a smaller $97 million.
Outside of commodities, services exports also surged by $136 million from January, helping to offset declines of $142 million and $44 million respectively for exports of non-monetary gold and rural goods.
Thanks to booming commodity prices, Australia has now recorded a trade surplus in excess of $1.5 billion in each of the past nine months, delivering a windfall for the federal government through higher tax receipts, as we saw with the 2019-20 budget last night.
