Surplus off the charts
Australia recorded a an all-comers record seasonally adjusted trade surplus of $4.8 billion in February, after another stonking surplus of $4.4 billion in January.
We've never seen numbers the like of these before.
Even the smoothed trend is running off the top of the charts.
There are two parts to this story, of course.
Aussie exports have been going like the clappers, with another new record high seasonally adjusted result in February of close to $40 billion, while annual exports are now just shy of $450 billion.
Hyuuuge!
This record result was in spite of some disruption to coal and iron ore exports, being more driven by record services exports and a boost in international goods trade.
So who knows what might happen in April once the Cyclone impacts have washed through?
The other side of the this trade surplus story is an ongoing weakness in imports, which is not such a good signal, while new car sales continue to drop off.
The lower dollar and a surge in Chinese tourism have been a great boon through this cycle, but perhaps this trend has done its dash a bit for now.
Overall then, record high exports, but consumers are lacking confidence in the face of the housing downturn.
