Western Australia’s important trading relationship with Asia has been reaffirmed in the State’s latest international trade statistics.
Western Australia’s important trading relationship with Asia has been reaffirmed in the State’s latest international trade statistics.
And not surprisingly, with the huge industrial development going on in much of Asia, particularly China, resources and agricultural products continue to dominate the bulk of trade.
Japan and China remained WA’s top two trading partners in the 2003-2004 financial year.
A third Asian nation, South Korea, remained in third spot despite a continuing three-year decline in terms of total trade value.
The US was knocked from fourth place to fifth by WA’s soaring trade with India.
India surged from 16th the previous financial year to fourth spot on the back of its huge demand for gold.
WA’s exports to India have increased by $2.5 billion in the past three years – gold exports making up the lion’s share.
The statistics, the latest from the WA Department of industry and Resources, measure and rank the value of exports and imports between WA and 245 of the State’s trading partners.
WA’s top five trading partners are almost identical to the nation’s top five, reflecting the fact WA delivers more than 28 per cent of the nation’s export wealth.
At a national level, however, trade with the US is more important, as is trade with New Zealand.
The national trade with China, while continuing to grow, still sits at third spot behind the US.
China’s importance to the WA economy is more pronounced, however, with resource exports to China underpinning strong growth in the State’s economy.
The WA Government has for many years been quite keen to foster the growing Asian trade, particularly the relationship with China, which the Government says is helping to set the scene for a once in 30 or 40-year opportunity for WA.
Japan, which has been one of WA’s strongest long-term trading partners (and despite continuing its unrivalled reign as the State’s number one trading partner), fell in terms of value of trade with WA last financial year.
The value of trade between the two slipped by $1.3 billion to $8.2 billion, largely the result of a fall in exports from WA.
The fall came despite Japan’s strengthening economy and its increased demand for minerals and oil and gas, iron ore petroleum, nickel and gold exports.
Confidential trade, which with Japan is most likely alumina and/or wheat, made up almost 50 per cent of trade, while iron ore and oil and gas exports accounted for just over 35 per cent of WA’s exports.
The fall in exports came as the WA Government looked to foster more diversity in exports instead of relying on traditional items such as resources and agricultural products.
While trade with Japan has been steady over the past five years, by comparison, trade with China has continued to increase in value as well as expand.
Last financial year WA’s total trade with China grew by $371 million, with both imports and exports increasing.
Exports were almost solely made up of minerals and oil and gas, however some agricultural products featured in the figures.
Iron ore was the dominant export item worth almost $2 billion to the State.
Despite South Korea’s growing importance to WA as a liquefied natural gas market, and in the services sector, trade between the two continues to decline in value.
Exports have fallen by $425 million since 2001-2002, while imports have fallen by $352.3 million in the same period.
