China is by far Australia’s biggest export market, taking about 30 per cent of Australia’s exports by value.
According to recent Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade figures, China takes $79.5 billion worth of Australian iron ore, $13.8 billion worth of coal and $16 billion in natural gas exports.
In 2017-18 Australia exported $123.3 billion in goods and services to China, equal to about 6.7 per cent of Gross Domestic Product (GDP).
The Chinese steel mills are engineered to take particular blends of ore that Australia supplies making it unlikely China would shift away to other suppliers, but the flow of Chinese students and tourists to our shores is under threat, as are exports of primary produce and consumer goods.
There are over 12,000 Australian exporters selling goods to China either directly or via Hong Kong and over 3,000 Australian businesses based there.
Australia’s top trading partners:
- China
- Japan
- Republic of Korea
- Singapore
- United States
- India
China also imports $2.67 billion in Australian beef, just slightly more than Japan. In fact, Japan does pip China for the slice of our resources in the coal and natural gas sectors as well, but again, not by a huge margin.
Coal is the biggest where Japan’s $17.05 billion of Australian coal imports is $3 billion more than China’s. But both countries are way ahead of the next market, India, at just $10.61 billion.
Australia’s top goods exports:
- Iron ores and concentrates – $96.57 billion
- Coal – $64.35 billion
- Natural gas – $48.8 billion
- Gold – $23.37 billion
- Beef – $10.8 billion
Biggest trading partners by top export:
Iron ore
- China – $79.48 billion
- Japan – $7.17 billion
- Republic of Korea – $6.024 billion
Coal
- Japan – $17.05 billion
- China – $13.84 billion
- India – $10.61 billion
Natural gas
- Japan – $20.02 billion
- China $16.16 billion
- Republic of Korea $4.45 billion
Gold
- United Kingdom $11.99 billion
- Hong Kong $4.1 billion
- China $2.99 billion
Beef
- China $2.67 billion
- Japan $2.34 billion
- United States $2.21 billion
Any sanctions or tariff hikes on Australian products will likely hit our grain, wine, dairy and seafood sectors which rely heavily on China as well.
Read the full article at https://www.abc.net.au
