Australia Dec goods surplus shrinks to A$5.1 billion as imports surge

SYDNEY (Reuters) – Australia’s surplus on trade goods narrowed sharply in December as a surge in imports of capital equipment outweighed gains in iron ore exports, data showed on Thursday.

The Australian Bureau of Statistics reported the surplus on goods narrowed to A$5.1 billion ($3.20 billion) in December, from a revised A$6.8 billion in November, well under market forecasts of A$7.0 billion.

Exports rose 1.1% on iron ore and rural goods, while imports jumped 5.9% with capital goods, petroleum and consumption goods all seeing sizeable increases.

($1 = 1.5921 Australian dollars)

(Reporting by Wayne Cole; Editing by Himani Sarkar)