Slumping commodity prices lead to Australian trade deficit

Exports of goods and services fell to a seasonally adjusted $21.7bn in April from $24.4bn in March, the latest Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) figures showed.

Meanwhile, imports dropped to $21.8bn in April from $22.1bn in March because of a 35% decline in "other goods" such as non-monetary gold, the report showed.

Consequently, the country recorded a trade deficit of $91m in the month, compared with the $2.3bn surplus in March, ABS said.  

Economists had widely expected a surplus for April.

Exports of non-rural goods slumped 12% or $1.7bn in April due to the fall in prices of commodities, particularly coking coal, the figures showed.

Rio Tinto Group announced in April that it would cut hundreds of jobs, slash the annual production of bauxite at its Weipa mine by 22% and slow down the construction of its Yarwun alumina refinery.