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IMPORTS

• In the March quarter 2009, Western Australia received its largest value of imports from Thailand ($1.8 billion), followed by Singapore ($1.4 billion) and United States of America ($0.9 billion).
• The value of imports from Thailand in March quarter 2009 was over twice that recorded in the December quarter and three times the value ($585 million) in March quarter 2008.
• Non-monetary gold to the value of $1.4 billion, accounted for 80% of the total value of imports from Thailand in the March quarter 2009. Gold, in the form of leaf, foil, bullion and other fabricated gold products including granules, is sent to Western Australia where it is processed before exportation under a different commodity classification. The recent increase in the value of non-monetary gold imports from Thailand follows a similar spike in the value of non-monetary gold imports from the United Kingdom in the previous quarter.

3 International Merchandise Trade(a), Imports - top 10 countries: Original
	IMPORTS
	Mar 08	Dec 08	Mar 09
Country	$'000	$'000	$'000
Thailand	584 824	725 461	1 785 255
Singapore	931 833	1 514 646	1 429 559
United States of America	643 236	1 103 939	929 753
Japan	810 582	661 834	788 921
China	456 943	723 927	689 754
Indonesia	281 513	271 198	355 824
Malaysia	474 637	241 487	351 138
United Kingdom	370 712	1 640 269	244 099
Germany	248 947	327 030	242 445
United Arab Emirates	442 809	240 868	214 937
Total exports(b)	7 059 836	9 329 880	8 756 728
(a) Customs value.
(b) Includes countries not listed.
Source: ABS data available on request, International Trade in Goods and Services, Australia, cat. no. 5368.0

• The value of imports for Western Australia were 24% higher in the March quarter 2009 than in the March quarter 2008 ($8.8 billion compared with just over $7 billion).
• Driving the increase in import values was non-monetary gold, which rose to $3.3 billion and accounted for 38% of the total value of all imports for Western Australia in the March quarter 2009. The import value of this commodity was almost double that of the corresponding quarter in the previous year.
• Among other major commodities that contributed to the rise in import values was iron/steel tubes and pipes, with an import value more than treble that of the March quarter 2008.

4 International Merchandise Trade(a), by major commodity: Original
	Mar 08	Dec 08	Mar 09
Category of the SITC	$'000	$'000	$'000
MAJOR IMPORT COMMODITIES(b)
Gold, non-monetary	1 751 534	2 504 780	3 341 962
Crude petroleum oils	895 150	406 764	572 910
Refined petroleum oils	505 363	1 095 392	359 190
Iron or steel tubes and pipes	79 411	155 166	274 835
Confidential items	223 369	407 573	263 002
Civil engineering plant and equipment	392 476	323 773	234 791
Passenger motor vehicles	397 576	360 685	224 110
Motor vehicles for the transport of goods	290 057	298 126	215 487
Other specialised industry machinery and equipment	123 851	125 768	118 795
Fertilisers	185 273	284 307	110 295
Ships, boats and floating structures	34 434	47 461	85 043
Rubber tyres	80 470	105 170	78 359
Automatic data processing machines	31 318	55 299	36 630
Aircraft and associated equipment	65 379	43 290	11 216
Parts and accessories of office machines	4 535	9 254	7 116
Total imports(c)	7 059 836	9 329 880	8 756 728
(a) Care should be taken when comparing with commodities data prior to July 2005. For full details about changes to international trade statistics, users should refer to the Information Paper: Impact of introducing Revision 4 of the Standard International Trade Classification, 2008 (cat. no. 5368.0.55.10).
(b) Customs value
(c) Includes categories not listed.
Source: ABS data available on request, International Trade in Goods and Services, Australia, cat. no. 5368.0.