Food, resources, high-end manufactures lead growth in Australia's export volumes but income down 4%

AUSTRALIA'S export volumes grew strongly overall last year, according to the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade's latest publications, although total export income was down 4 percent for the year, compared with 2011.

Australia's high-end manufactures, like Holden's new VF series - going to the US as a Chevrolet - aerospace and pharmaceutical products are trending up in volume.

Australia's total export volumes grew by over 6 percent in 2012 according to Composition of Trade, Australia 2012 and Trade in Primary and Manufactured Products 2012 released last month by the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT).

This growth in export volumes was double the average rate over the last 10 years and the highest annual rate of growth in export volumes since 2000.

Mineral and fuel exports increased by 10.9 percent in 2012, leading the growth in export volumes.

According to DFAT, this is well above the average rate of 5.1 percent for these exports over the last 10 years.

Rural export volumes also grew strongly, up 11.6 percent in 2012.

Overall, export values fell 4.2 percent to $300.1 billion in 2012, as the increase in export volumes was outweighed by the fall in export prices (down 10.2 percent).

The publications show that China remained Australia's top trading partner in 2012, with two-way trade of $125.2 billion, equal to 20 percent of total trade.

Japan ($71.1 billion) and the United States ($56.2 billion) followed, accounting for 11.5 percent and 9.1 percent of total trade respectively.

Other highlights from the publications are:

• Exports of natural gas rose strongly, up 21.1 percent to $13.4 billion. Natural gas is now Australia's fifth largest export after iron ore, coal, gold and education services;
• 2012 was the third straight year of rising elaborately transformed manufactures (ETM) exports, up 2.1 percent to $28.1 billion. Within this category exports of pharmaceutical products rose 15.4 percent to $4.2 billion; road motor vehicles and parts were up 20.3 percent to $2.8 billion and machinery for specialised industries were up 5.2 percent to $4.2 billion;
• Food exports also performed well, with wheat exports up 7.5 percent to $6.5 billion and vegetables, fruit and nuts, up 28.9 percent to $1.9 billion;
• Australia's imports of goods and services rose 7.4 percent in 2012, with strong growth in ETM imports, up 10 percent to $160.2 billion; and
• Australia's terms of trade fell 10.7 percent.

The leading feature piece in this year's Composition of Trade, is an article outlining new OECD research on 'Trade in value added' which recognises that many goods and services are assembled using inputs from more than one country - using global value chains.

Composition of Trade and Trade in Primary and Manufactured Products are part of a series published each year by the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade on Australia's international trade in goods and services.

The analyses and tables from the publications, along with Excel pivot tables, are available on the DFAT website.

www.dfat.gov.au/publications/statistics.html

www.dfat.gov.au/trade

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