Australia’s exports rose 8pc in June to AUD$31.7bn compared to the previous month, driven by an increase in iron ore exports.
Australia’s iron ore exports increased by 8pc to AUD$9.9bn in June compared to May. In fact, iron ore exports made up AUD$100bn or a quarter of the country’s total goods exported in the 2019-2020 fiscal year ended June 2020, with last month being the highest export value on record. Australia exported 87pc of all iron ore during the period to China.
The country’s total exports in June 2020 also saw a 67pc increase in non-monetary gold shipments to AUD$2.29bn with petroleum up by 47pc to AUD$651mn during the same month compared to May 2020.
Goods imported by Australia rose by 6pc to AUD$22.8bn driven by an increase in petroleum which had stagnated since December 2019. Electrical machinery and appliances imports increased by 19pc to a record level of AUD$1.69bn in June. Automotive imports were affected by the COVID-19 pandemic with imports in June decreasing by 44pc to AUD$1.64bn compared with June 2019 levels.
Spot iron ore pricing ended the week of July 24 at about $111/mt cfr China, up from $110/mt cfr China the previous week. The week’s price was the highest in 2020 and the highest since July 2019 at $119/mt. On June 27, Australian fines with 62pc iron content were being offered at approximately $107/mt cfr China while Brazil-origin 65pc fine ore were approximately $119/mt cfr China.
($1=AUD1.37)