JANUARY KEY FIGURES
 | November
2006 | December
2006 | January
2007 |
| $m | $m | $m |
|
| Food and live animals | 696 | 610 | 632 |
| Beverages and tobacco | 156 | 121 | 104 |
| Crude materials, inedible, except fuels | 195 | 220 | 189 |
| Mineral fuels, lubricants and related materials | 1 607 | 1 987 | 1 644 |
| Animal and vegetable oils, fats and waxes | 47 | 40 | 49 |
| Chemicals and related products, nes | 1 729 | 1 294 | 1 685 |
| Manufactured goods classified chiefly by material | 1 880 | 1 603 | 1 860 |
| Machinery and transport equipment | 6 888 | 6 416 | 6 097 |
| Miscellaneous manufactured articles | 2 187 | 1 905 | 1 904 |
| Commodities and transactions not classified elsewhere in the SITC | 346 | 374 | 427 |
| TOTAL | 15 731 | 14 570 | 14 591 |
|
JANUARY KEY POINTS
ORIGINAL ESTIMATES
- In original terms, merchandise imports were $14,591m in January 2007, an increase of $21m on December 2006 merchandise imports of $14,570m.
PRELIMINARY BALANCE OF PAYMENTS GOODS IMPORTS
- Preliminary analysis shows that goods imports (debits) on a balance of payments basis decreased by 1% in seasonally adjusted terms between December 2006 and January 2007.
NOTES
FORTHCOMING ISSUES
| ISSUE | Release Date |
| February 2007 | 16 March 2007 |
| March 2007 | 19 April 2007 |
| April 2007 | 16 May 2007 |
| May 2007 | 19 June 2007 |
| June 2007 | 17 July 2007 |
| July 2007 | 17 August 2007 |
INTRODUCTION
This publication presents statistics of Australia's merchandise imports classified according to the broadest level (1 digit sections) of the United Nations Standard International Trade Classification. The data are compiled from information submitted by importers or their agents to the Australian Customs Service. For more details see International Merchandise Trade, Australia: Concepts, Sources and Methods (cat. no. 5489.0) on the ABS web site. More detailed merchandise imports data are available on the ABS web site www.abs.gov.au from the Details tab of this issue or by contacting the National Information and Referral Service.
CHANGES TO EXPORT AND IMPORT STATISTICAL CODES
As a result of the implementation of an update to the international Harmonized Commodity Description and Coding System (HS), statistical codes in the Customs Tariff have been revised from January 2007. In January 2007, data were reported against approximately 1,100 of the 1,400 new 10 digit Tariff item statistical codes, representing about 16% of total imports. Clients using the detailed data will need to take these changes into consideration. Most of the data published are on an "as reported to Customs" basis as the ABS does not have the resources to check all import entries. While there have been reporting issues identified in some tariffs, the ABS has found no evidence of a significant deterioration in the overall quality of reporting under the updated HS.
The HS changes could also impact on statistics presented according to related classifications. No significant impacts could be identified in series presented according to BOPBEC. However, it is not possible to be definitive about the impact on other series (such as SITC) because of the normal volatility in the series and the limitations of the available data.
Included with the Information Paper: Changes on 1 January 2007 to Statistical Codes in the AHECC and the Customs Tariff, 2007 (cat. no. 1233.0.55.001) are correspondences between the codes of the current and the updated version of the Customs Tariff, and correspondences between the updated version of the AHECC and the Customs Tariff, and related classifications. The correspondences can be used by clients to assess the impact on the detailed import statistics.
INQUIRIES
For further information about these and related statistics, contact the National Information and Referral Service on 1300 135 070 or Olivia Lam on Canberra (02) 6252 7406.
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