CANBERRA: During the six-month period between January and June of this year, the volume of exports to Australia was US$5.95 billion, up 21.9 percent from the same period last year when the figure was $4.88 billion. This is attributed to the effect of the free trade agreement that took effect from December last year.
For example, the exports of aluminum products whose 5-percent tariff was abolished since early this year were $45,494,000, 218.6 percent higher than the same period in 2014. Thanks to the elimination of the 5-percent tariff, the exports of copper pipes also increased 101.4 percent during the same period.
The automotive exports also rose by a large margin. the value of exports for cars with a 3.0-liter engine or larger was $45,901,000, up 50.9 percent from the first six months of 2014. The volume of trucks smaller than 5 tons was also up 20.2 percent to $44,457,000.
Meanwhile, the imports from Australia have fallen by a large margin due to a plunge in commodity prices. For example, the value of bituminous coal imports in the first half of the year declined 16.8 percent from a year ago while that for crude oil down 50.5 percent.
