SYDNEY- Australia’s surplus on trade goods narrowed to a more than three-year low in March as exports of coal and coke fell while imports of textile and clothes jumped, data showed.
The Australian Bureau of Statistics reported the balance on goods fell to A$5.02 billion ($3.27 billion), the lowest since November 2020. That compared with a downwardly revised A$6.6 billion in February and came in short of market forecasts of A$7.3 billion.
Exports rose just 0.1 percent in the month, weighed by a 7.5 percent drop in coal, coke and briquettes, while imports climbed 4.2 percent, led by increases in consumption and capital goods.
Australia shipped more coal to China than Japan in April, the first time this has happened in any month in more than four years, underscoring shifting market dynamics and an improved political relationship with Beijing.
Australia’s exports of all grades of coal to China were 6.87 million metric tons in April, up from 6.83 million in March and the highest since November, according to data compiled by commodity analysts Kpler.
Shipments of coal to Japan from Australia were 6.10 million tons in April, down from 7.93 million in March and the lowest since the 5.97 million recorded in April 2017.
Australia’s coal exports to China have been recovering since February last year when the world’s biggest buyer of the polluting fuel ended an informal ban on imports.
Australia is the world’s biggest shipper of metallurgical coal used to make steel, and the second-biggest exporter of thermal coal, used mainly to generate electricity.
