Australia's exports fell 12% in April

The value of both Australian exports and imports decreased in April 2020 although demand for resource commodities remained strong, according to the latest Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) preliminary international trade in goods figures.

Exports or outbound shipments fell by $4 billion or 12% month-on-month from the record-high figure in March 2020, while imports or inbound shipments fell by 5%, mainly due to a decline in imports of petroleum, aircraft, non-monetary gold, and road vehicles.

While overall exports declined, the outbound shipments of resource commodities like iron ore remained strong, mainly due to demand from major trading partners across Asia.

Key points

Year-on-year the value of exports in April 2020 was 1% higher than the value recorded in April 2019.

Year-on-year, the value of imports in April 2020 was down 7% on April 2019 with large decreases in the value of imports of petroleum and road vehicles.

The data has failed to elicit any reaction from the AUD/USD pair, which continues to trade largely unchanged on the day near 0.6535.