International Merchandise Trade, Preliminary, Australia

This release provides preliminary estimates for Australian international merchandise trade for the month of May 2020 to help measure the economic impact of coronavirus (COVID-19). These estimates are compiled from administrative data (customs records) sourced from the Department of Home Affairs and are subject to revision. The final May monthly estimates will be published in International Trade in Goods and Services, Australia (cat. no. 5368.0) on 2 July 2020.

• The value of exports and imports of goods both continued to decline in May 2020, from the revised April 2020 figures.
• The preliminary figures show that the value of exports declined $1.3b or 4% from the revised April 2020 value of $31,063m. Year-on-year, the May 2020 figures declined $4.3b or 13% from May 2019.
• The value of goods imported declined $2.2b or 9% on the revised April 2020 value of $24,087m. Year-on-year, the May 2020 figure declined $4.8b or 18% from May 2019. These declines were largely due to a drop in imports of road vehicles and petroleum.
   

• Exports of goods in May 2020 declined from the revised April 2020 estimate of $31,063m by $1,337m (-4%) to $29,726m.
• The 4% decline in the value of exports in May 2020 follows a much larger fall in April (-12%).
• The decline in May 2020 was driven by exports of non-rural goods, down $521m (-2%); and non-monetary gold, down $482 (-25%).
• Within non-rural goods, there were declines in exports of coal, down $397m (-9%); gas, down $313m (-8%); and petroleum, down $184m (-30%).
• The decline in exports of non-monetary gold was driven by a drop in exports to the United States, Germany, and the United Kingdom.
• Despite the overall value of exports falling, exports of metalliferous ores increased to $11,234m, up $242m (2%). This increase was largely driven by ongoing demand for Australian iron ore and global supply disruptions caused by COVID-19, particularly in Brazil.
• Exports to China increased $864m (7%) to $13,586m. This increase was predominantly driven by increases in exports of coal up $759m (79%) to $1,720m and metalliferous ores up $456m (6%) to $8,284m with notable declines in meat, textile fibres and petroleum.
• Year-on-year, exports declined $4,313m (-13%) when compared to May 2019.
   

• Imports of goods in May 2020 declined from the revised April 2020 estimate of $24,087m by $2,184m (-9%) to $21,903m.
• This decline in the value of imports was driven by a fall in imports of consumption goods, down $1,436m (-18%); intermediate and other goods, down $794m (-8%); and capital goods, down $583m (-10%).
• Imports of non-monetary gold partially offset the declines, up $627m (100%) on April 2020.
• Within consumption goods, road vehicles and articles of apparel both declined. Road vehicles accounted for most of the fall within consumption goods, with declines in several vehicle types including passenger vehicles, and four-wheel drives. Articles of apparel (clothing), also declined substantially as many retailers remained closed due to COVID-19.
• Within intermediate and other goods, there were declines observed in imports of petroleum products, rubber tyres and fertiliser.
• Within capital goods there were declines in road vehicles and office and ADP machines, including laptop computers which declined off the back of a significant increase in April. Despite this decline, the value of imports of laptops remains relatively high by historic standards.
• Imports from China declined by $185m (-2%) to $7,297m. The decline was driven by petroleum, down $185m (-73%) to $67m; articles of apparel (clothing), down $99m (-21%) to $373m; and telecommunications equipment including mobile phones, down $95m (-10%) to $833m.
• Year-on-year, imports in May 2020 declined by $4,811m (-18%) on May 2019. This decline is predominantly due to declines in imports of petroleum and road vehicles.
   

These are preliminary estimates presented on an original, current price (merchandise (goods) trade) basis only, not a Balance of Payments (BoP) basis. This means that the data are presented on a customs basis, whereas BoP data are derived from the customs basis by applying adjustments for factors such as valuation, coverage, timing and residence, as required by the Australian System of National Accounts.

Caution should be exercised in interpreting preliminary estimates as they may be different to the final published estimates because:

• Estimates are based on preliminary data provided by businesses and individuals, and are subject to revision as more complete and accurate information becomes available. Therefore, accuracy of these estimates may be poorer than for final estimates.
• This data does not include adjustments that are supplementary to transaction information provided by the Department of Home Affairs for example, adjustments to account for low value imported items and other above-mentioned BoP adjustments.
   

The timeline below provides key processing timeframes and publication dates for the May 2020 international trade in goods data.

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