Australia June Trade Surplus Narrows as Commodity Prices Fall

--Surplus Narrows Because of Rise in Imports

--Prices Fall for Five of Six Main Commodity Exports

     SYDNEY (MNI) - International-trade data for June published by the

Australian Bureau of Statistics on Thursday:

                                            June                             May

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

                                         (in A$)                         (in A$)

                             Seasonally Adjusted             Seasonally Adjusted

Trade

Balance                                 +856 mln  +2.02 (revised from +2.47 bln)

                 +1.7 bln (range +1.2 bln to 3.0

MNI Median                                  bln)

Exports                                31.78 bln                       32.28 bln

Imports                                30.92 bln                       30.19 bln

     FACTORS: Australia's trade surplus narrowed in June as exports fell 1% m/m

and imports rose 2%. Exports fell 1% owing to a 4% drop in nonrural-goods

exports caused mainly by a 7% fall in metal ores and minerals and a 6% fall in

coal, coke and briquettes. Partially offsetting these falls was a 27%, or A$406

million, rise in nonmonetary goods exports. Imports rose 4% as a result of a 13%

rise in capital goods as telecommunications imports rose 78%, or A$462 million,

and industrial transport equipment rose 22%. In balance-of-payments terms the

surplus for the June quarter was A$3.3 billion -- a fall of A$4.1 billion from

the March quarter's surplus of A$7.4 billion.

     In original terms exports fell for five of the six large commodities thanks

to a decline in unit values. LNG exports bucked the trend with a 12% rise as

quantities and unit values both rose 6%. 

     TAKEAWAY: The surplus was lower than a MNI median forecast and well outside

the range predicted by economists in a MNI poll. The difference was a result of

a larger-than-expected fall in commodity exports and a bigger-than-expected rise

in imports.

--MNI Sydney Bureau; tel: +61 2-9716-5467; email: sophia.rodrigues@marketnews.com

[TOPICS: MTABLE,MALDS$,M$A$$$,M$L$$$,MT$$$$]