Australia Trade Rebound
Australia's Trade Balance Rebounds Sharply in April, Driven by Surging Commodity Exports.
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Australia's goods trade swung back to a surplus of A$1.79 billion in April 2026, reversing a shock deficit from the month before, according to Australian Bureau of Statistics. Exports jumped 7.2% as resource shipments recovered from cyclone disruptions and iron ore deliveries to China surged.
The result beat market expectations of A$1.23 billion and came just days after GDP data showed the economy grew only 0.3% in the first quarter — its slowest pace in months, Investing.com reported.
Cyclone Catch-Up and Iron Ore Drive Export Surge
Metal ores and minerals led the recovery, jumping 18.5% in April. Coal exports rose 15.2%. Both categories had been hammered earlier in the year when Cyclones Koji and Mitchell battered ports in Western Australia and Queensland, stalling shipments for weeks, according to The National Tribune.
China was the key destination. Iron ore deliveries to the country increased "strongly" in April, Investing.com noted. The rebound was widely seen as a catch-up effect rather than a signal of new export demand.
Fuel Import Costs Spike on Global Energy Crisis
While exports surged, imports stayed mostly flat — rising just 0.8%. But fuel and lubricants costs exploded, up 41.4% in a single month. Oil prices have climbed above $100 per barrel following disruptions to shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, according to Australian Bureau of Statistics.
The fuel spike kept import growth from falling outright. Analysts warn that if oil prices stay elevated, Australia's import bill could erode future surpluses even if commodity exports hold steady.
Data Center Boom Fuels Growth — and Imports
Australia's import surge in early 2026 was partly self-inflicted. The country is in a data center building boom. The ICT sector accounted for 85% of the rise in private capital investment over the past year, according to Australian Industry Group. Most of the server equipment was imported.
Westpac senior economist Pat Bustamante noted that data center investment added roughly 0.5 percentage points to GDP growth — but because the equipment came from overseas, it also widened the trade gap in Q1. The net trade drag subtracted 0.8% from first-quarter GDP, Capital Economics estimated.
AUD Recovers but Economists Stay Cautious on Rate Cuts
The Australian dollar gained ground after the data dropped, trading around $0.7240 USD, according to FXStreet. Traders welcomed the surplus as a counterweight to the weak GDP print. But the Reserve Bank of Australia, which raised its cash rate to 4.35% in May, is unlikely to pivot quickly.
Innes Willox, CEO of the Australian Industry Group, called the broader economic signals "extremely concerning," warning that productivity has fallen back to pre-pandemic levels. Treasurer Jim Chalmers pushed back, calling 2.5% annual growth the "equal fastest pace" among peers in almost three years, according to 7NEWS Australia.
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