Australia’s April trade data is about as bad as it gets when you are looking for an economic transition. With imports up 4% and exports down 6% the seasonally adjusted deficit of $3,888 million is the worst print since February 2008.
The ABS said that part of the fall in exports was “driven by coal, coke and briquettes, down $859m (22%) as a result of the temporary closure of ports due to severe weather conditions.”
On the import side the surge was entirely misplaced it seems with the ABS reporting that, “Capital goods rose $546m (10%) driven by imports of machinery and industrial equipment, up $1,232m (69%). Intermediate and other merchandise goods rose $371m (4%).”
So on balance this looks a somewhat aberrant number. But it’s still as shock to a market which was looking for a deficit of just $2.25 billion.
The Aussie dollar is down 0.77% to 0.7716 as a result of this and the weak retail sales result.
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