Record WA exports supporting national numbers

Western Australia exported its highest ever value of goods in a single month in November, as the nation posted another trade surplus.

About $13.1 billion of merchandise exports flowed out of WA in November, seasonally adjusted, up 34.6 per cent from the same month in 2017 according to Australian Bureau of Statistics figures.

The previous record for a month was in August 2018, when products valued at $12.6 billion were shipped overseas.

A big driver of the result was China, with exports of $6.7 billion also the highest monthly total to that destination.

The strong performance also meant that, on a 12-month rolling basis, WA’s exports to all nations were at a record $142.5 billion.

Nationally, the trade surplus was $1.9 billion in seasonally adjusted terms, with exports growing 1 per cent on October to be $38.4 billion.

Imports rose 2 per cent, seasonally adjusted, to $36.5 billion.

It means Australia has recorded 23 surpluses in the past 25 months.

One surprising detail among the numbers was in iron ore exports, almost all of which come from WA.

Lump sales were down 6 per cent in November to about $1.7 billion, and fines sales fell 3 per cent to be $4 billion.

“China and the US may be locked in a trade dispute, but in Australia, two-way trade with China is going gangbusters,” Commsec chief economist Craig James said.

“Both the goods we receive from China and the exports we send to China hit record highs over the year to November.

“And both exports are imports are growing at a double-digit annual pace.

“At the height of the Japan-Australia trading relationship, exports to Japan accounted for 28 per cent of total Australian exports.

“Australia is more invested now in China, and so the health of the Chinese economy is super important to Australian businesses."