Subscribe to RSS feedMachinery and transport goods investment down
Investment in machinery and transport equipment fell in April reflecting an overall decline in imports of overseas goods, the latest Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) figures show.
International merchandise imports were worth $16.2bn in April, down 6% from the $17.3bn recorded last month and lower than the $16.5bn in February, the ABS said.
According to an ABS spokesman, the decline in imports was due to a substantial fall in capital goods and non-monetary gold.
The fall in capital goods to $4bn in April from $4.3bn in March was driven by the “large drop in machinery and industrial equipment imported into Australia," he said.
Machinery and transport equipment fell to about $6bn in April from $6.6bn in March, though up from the $5.3bn in February.
All but one of the 10 merchandise import categories covered by the ABS declined in April, the bureau said.
Imports of mineral fuels, lubricants and related materials were only minimally changed from March at $1.89bn in April.
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