Australia posts first trade deficit in a year

Australia has posted its first monthly trade deficit in almost a year as exports fell after floods hurt coal production and imports rose steeply in February, figures showed Tuesday. The Australian Bureau of Statistics seasonally adjusted figures showed a deficit of Aus$205 million from a downwardly revised surplus of $1.433 billion in January.
Exports fell two percent, but imports jumped five percent. Key factors influencing the change between January and February were a fall of $543 million in exports of metal ores and minerals and a bounce of $561 million in imports of fuels and lubricants, economists said. "It's a bit of surprise with the first deficit in nearly one year," St George Bank chief economist Besa Deda said. "We've been recording very large trade surpluses for some time and we did think that surpluses would narrow in coming months, but we weren't predicting the deficit." The last time Australia posted a trade deficit was in March 2010.