Australian March trade sees rise in surplus

The Australian trade figures for the month of March were released Thursday, with a recording of 3.1 billion Australian dollar (2.3 billion U.S. dollars) surplus.

According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics figures, this result was driven by a 2-percent uptick in exports, along with a 5-percent rise in exports.

The export of goods rose dramatically, to 27 billion dollars in March, which represents a 35 percent increase over the corresponding period last year, with metals lifting by 4 percent, while rural goods saw an increase of 7 percent.

Michael Workman, senior economist at the Commonwealth Bank, told Xinhua in a statement that although there were gains in some areas, coal exports fell 6 percent, with more cuts likely.

"The dislocation to, mainly coal, exports from Cyclone Debbie will reduce exports in April, making a lower trade surplus more likely," Workman said.

"We expect to see gradually lower bulk U.S. dollar commodity prices over the rest of 2017. It means a return to trade deficits should be expected by year end."

According to Paul Dales, chief economist at Capital Economics, Australia's international trade surplus is "past its peak", and will likely fall in the near future as import values also continue to rise. Enditem