Australia: Trade surplus at a near record high - Westpac

Andrew Hanlan, analyst at Westpac, notes that the Australian trade surplus remained elevated at $4.9bn in March, only down a little from a record high of $5.1bn for February (revised up from $4.9bn).

Key Quotes

“The March outcome exceeded expectations (market median $4.5bn and Westpac $4.2bn).”

“Imports were the main surprise, falling by a further 1.5%, rather than rebounding by 1.0% as we anticipated.”

“Exports fell but by somewhat more than anticipated, down by 1.8% v's a forecast -0.6%.”

“For the March quarter, the ABS advise that the trade surplus widened to $14.2bn from $8.6bn in Q4, an improvement of $5.6bn.”