Terms of trade lift
A huge lift for the terms of trade in the first quarter of 2017.
Export prices rose by 9.4 per cent to be a stunning 29.1 per cent higher year-on-year!
This is the largest annual increase in the index since the China stimulus boom of March 2009.
Import prices lifted marginally in the quarter, but remained marginally lower over the year to March.
The gains were largely driven by coal and especially iron ore export prices, which absolutely belted higher until February.
The result has been a series of massive trade surpluses for Australia.
This is an amazing boost for national income while it lasts, but don't forget that iron ore prices have fallen sharply since February.
In fact, the news for the remainder of the year is unlikely to be quite so rosy.
See here at Business Insider for more details.
