March 2008 quarter:
Values are seasonally adjusted and compared with the December 2007 quarter unless otherwise stated.
- Exports decreased 1.4 percent, but remained high, only the second quarter to exceed $10 billion.
- Milk powder, butter and cheese (up 7.2 percent); and meat and edible offal (up 5.9 percent) offset the decrease. This was the third consecutive quarterly increase for both commodity groups.
- Imports increased 0.4 percent, maintaining the record high reached in the December 2007 quarter (over $11 billion)
- The trend for the quarterly trade balance is the smallest since December 2002.
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March 2008 month:
Values are actual and compared with the March 2007 month unless otherwise stated.
- Exports were $3.4 billion (up 3.7 percent).
- For the seventh consecutive month, the increase in exports was led by the same two commodity groups – milk powder, butter and cheese, and crude oil (up a combined $262 million).
- The total change for all other commodity groups was a 5.2 percent decrease.
- Imports increased 7.1 percent, a rise dominated by petroleum and products.
- The trade balance was a deficit of $50 million, only the second March deficit recorded in the past 10 years.
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