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IMPORTS

MAJOR IMPORT COMMODITIES(a)(b) - Western Australia
	Sep qtr 2010	Jun qtr 2010	Sep qtr 2009
Commodities	$'000	$'000	$'000
Gold, non-monetary	856 089	2 167 192	1 321 348
Crude petroleum oils	755 179	948 720	885 734
Refined petroleum oils	468 795	442 915	354 014
Passenger motor vehicles	413 630	419 839	309 662
Civil engineering plant and equipment	219 686	202 183	80 969
Other specialised industry machinery and equipment	217 316	150 187	129 511
Motor vehicles for the transport of goods	196 112	206 743	129 017
Rubber tyres	104 093	103 036	91 710
Iron or steel tubes and pipes	83 304	85 652	210 800
Total(c)	6 028 380	7 098 626	6 605 262
(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 commodities not listed.
Source: ABS data available on request, International Trade in Goods and Services, Australia (cat. no. 5368.0). For the September quarter 2010, the decrease in the total value of imports to Western Australia was driven by a 60% decrease in the value of Non-monetary gold imports, following a steep increase in the previous quarter. Non-monetary gold, in the form of leaf, foil, bullion and other fabricated gold products (including granules), is imported for processing before being exported under a different commodity classification. Import values for Crude petroleum oils also saw a notable decrease (-20%) in the September quarter 2010, while industrial plant and equipment (of various types) saw significant quarterly increases. In the year to September 2010, there was a 9% decrease in the total value of imports to WA. Again, this was primarily driven by large decreases over the year in the import value of Non-monetary gold (-35%) and Crude petroleum oils (-15%). This fall in gold import values reflects a large reduction in the value of gold imports from Thailand (down 86% on the previous year). Similarly, the falling values for Crude petroleum oils can be attributed to the declining value of these imports from the United Arab Emirates (-16%) and Indonesia (-34%).

VALUE OF IMPORTS TO WESTERN AUSTRALIA(a), Top 10 places of origin
	Sep qtr 2010	Jun qtr 2010	Sep qtr 2009
Place of Origin	$'000	$'000	$'000
China	931 788	551 447	532 716
United States of America	643 432	572 223	626 947
Singapore	561 972	779 645	343 534
Japan	489 289	492 531	637 393
Malaysia	408 683	533 058	280 481
United Arab Emirates	377 155	384 340	417 052
Indonesia	357 053	356 028	313 985
Thailand	332 398	1 342 490	1 326 396
Germany	209 071	216 682	277 664
Papua New Guinea	208 672	286 012	42 634
Total(b)	6 028 380	7 098 626	6 605 262
(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).

• In the September quarter 2010, WA received its largest value (over $930 million) of imports from China, followed by the United States of America and Singapore.
• The value of imports from China increased by 69% in the September quarter 2010, and were 75% higher than in the same quarter of the previous year. This reflects increasing volumes of imported consumer goods, such as electronics and clothing.
• After increasing to $1.3 billion in the June quarter 2010, imports from Thailand were only a quarter of the value recorded in the September quarter 2009.
• In contrast, imports from other South-East Asian countries, including Malaysia and Singapore, along with Papua New Guinea, were considerably higher in the September quarter 2010 than in the corresponding quarter of the previous year.