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IMPORTS

• In the June quarter 2009, Western Australia received its largest value of imports from the United States of America ($790 million), followed by Thailand ($630 million) and Japan ($592 million).
• Notable falls in import values from Singapore (down $883 million) and the United Kingdom (down $451 million) occurred between the June quarter 2008 and June quarter 2009.

3 International Merchandise Trade(a), imports - top 10 countries: original
	IMPORTS
	Jun 08	Mar 09	Jun 09
Country	$'000	$'000	$'000
United States of America	724 578	929 829	789 758
Thailand	475 298	1 785 337	630 194
Japan	643 242	789 011	592 210
China	452 169	686 911	563 395
United Kingdom	935 535	244 366	484 683
United Arab Emirates	547 907	214 937	442 020
Singapore	1 301 822	1 429 554	418 517
Korea, Republic of	221 564	150 814	366 623
Indonesia	219 321	355 449	350 012
Malaysia	282 462	350 959	321 138
Total imports(b)	7 845 240	8 757 673	6 451 346
(a) Customs value.
(b) Includes countries not listed.
Source: Source: ABS data available on request, International Trade in Goods and Services, Australia, cat. no. 5368.0.

• The total value of imports to Western Australia was 18% lower in the June quarter 2009 than in the June quarter 2008 ($6.4 billion compared with $7.8 billion).
• Contributing to the decrease in import values over this 12 month period was Non-monetary gold, which dropped from $1.8 billion to $1.2 billion (down 35%).
• Non-monetary gold continued to be the largest contributor to import values overall. 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.
• Ships, boats and floating structures also contributed to the fall in total import values, with a decrease of $600 million from the June quarter 2008.

4 International Merchandise Trade(a), by major commodity - original
	Jun 08	Mar 09	Jun 09
Category of the SITC	$'000	$'000	$'000
MAJOR IMPORT COMMODITIES(b)
Gold, non-monetary	1 804 473	3 344 963	1 173 143
Crude petroleum oils	878 173	572 537	762 176
Refined petroleum oils	641 723	359 204	328 299
Passenger motor vehicles	430 322	224 110	246 051
Iron or steel tubes and pipes	82 181	274 870	231 522
Confidential items	226 312	262 943	196 339
Fertilisers	263 846	110 295	168 289
Other specialised industry machinery and equipment	119 292	118 635	148 943
Civil engineering plant and equipment	261 060	234 806	148 548
Motor vehicles for the transport of goods	279 988	215 582	94 817
Rubber tyres	101 906	78 357	77 187
Automatic data processing machines	39 737	36 632	34 553
Ships, boats and floating structures	631 433	82 514	13 743
Parts and accessories of office machines	6 914	7 116	8 570
Aircraft and associated equipment	124 412	11 216	4 258
Total imports(c)	7 845 240	8 757 673	6 451 346
(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: Source: ABS data available on request, International Trade in Goods and Services, Australia, cat. no. 5368.0.