Australia’s exports of goods to China second highest on record in June

Australia’s trade surplus in June was higher than expected as exports to China boomed to their second highest on record, a sign the commodity-leveraged country was weathering the early stages of the tariff dispute between Beijing and Washington.

A report on Thursday from the Australian Bureau of Statistics showed Australia’s trade surplus rose by 158 per cent to A$1.87 billion (US$1.39 billion), twice the forecast and the largest since May last year.

Exports rose 2.6 per cent on a pickup in a broad range of goods from iron ore and gold to farm and manufactured items, the data showed. Imports fell 0.7 per cent as lower purchases of petrol outweighed an increase in transport and telecoms equipment.

The windfall owed much to China, which has been hoovering up Australia’s iron ore and coal output even as trade tensions with the United States have escalated.

Analysts said that much of Australia’s exports to China are primary products used in the Asian nation’s domestic economy rather than for re-export. There has also been no sign of a slowdown in the rapid growth of Chinese tourism or the flow of students from the country.

Indeed, exports of goods to China hit the second strongest on record in June at A$10.34 billion, an increase of almost 40 per cent from the same month last year.