Australia’s trade surplus almost halves as coal, iron ore tumble

Australia’s trade surplus almost halved in July as key overseas shipments of coal and iron ore tumbled, while holidaymakers headed abroad to take advantage of the northern hemisphere summer.

The surplus narrowed to A$8.7 billion ($5.9 billion) from a revised record A$17.1 billion in June and well shy of economists’ estimates of A$14.7 billion, Australian Bureau of Statistics data showed on Thursday. Exports plunged 10%, while imports jumped 5%.

Australia has to date been a rare beneficiary of fallout from Russia’s invasion of Ukraine as disruptions to commodity and energy markets have sent coal and other prices soaring. Treasurer Jim Chalmers warned Wednesday that the economy couldn’t rely on high export prices even as he acknowledged that they had helped deliver a windfall to the nation’s fiscal coffers.

Chalmers will deliver his first budget on Oct. 25.

Australia has posted monthly trade windfalls for 4-1/2 years, underpinned by sales of iron ore and natural gas. The nation is also a major exporter of commodities like wheat that have also surged amid concerns that war-ravaged Ukraine would be unable to deliver its harvest.

Thursday’s data showed services imports -- which cover outbound tourists -- soared, while earnings from coal exports tumbled 17% and iron ore almost 15%.