Record iron ore receipts lift Australian export revenue

Record iron ore export receipts boosted Australian export revenues from bulk commodities to a historic high in March. An increase in Australia's LNG export receipts to a 10-month high in March helped underpin a rise in overall export receipts, according to latest official trade data.

The rise in resources export receipts in March was expected after the release of preliminary data for March on 28 April.

Combined export receipts from iron ore, LNG thermal and coking coal rose to a record high of A$22.7bn ($17.5bn) in March compared with A$19.13bn in February, which was revised down from the original estimate of A$19.16bn, and A$20.63bn in March 2020, according to March trade data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS).

Iron ore accounted for the largest component of bulk commodity export receipts, with record export revenues of A$14.04bn in March exceeding the previous record of A$13.41bn in December, the ABS data showed.

LNG export receipts of A$2.95bn in March were the highest monthly level since the A$3.45bn received in May 2020, the ABS data showed.

China accounted for 35pc of Australia's total merchandise exports in March or A$13.42bn. The two countries have endured political and trade tensions, resulting in Asia's largest economy imposing restrictions on many Australian commodity exports, including thermal coal.

Despite record iron ore export revenues, Australia's trade surplus narrowed to A$5.57bn in March. This was partly because of an increase in the country's crude and oil products import bill to a combined A$2.66bn in March from A$2.16bn in February and A$2.2bn in March 2020, marking the highest monthly import bill for crude and oil products since A$3.25bn in January 2020.

Total bulk commodity export receipts in the first nine months of the 2020-21 fiscal year to 30 June stood below those a year earlier, despite a strong rise in iron ore export receipts so far this fiscal year (see table below for more data).

By Kevin Morrison