China’s trade surplus jumped sharply in June, a development that will get all the American loudmouths yapping again about an undervalued currency.
But while it should also calm those in the west concerned that China’s economy was tanking, there was a problem or two in the level of imports of some commodities (explained in the above story).
Of course we have to wait until later this week for more economic data on June and the June quarter, with growth, output, prices, retail sales, house prices and bank lending figures due out.
But if imports of copper and iron ore are down, then it could also mean another fall in monthly production to go with the gradual slide seen in the past three months.
But the figures released on Saturday showed that exports jumped 43.9% in June, from the same month in 2009, while imports rose 34.1% year-on-year.
As a result, China posted a trade surplus of $US 20.02 billion in June, up slightly from the month before, according to the figures released by Chinese customs authorities.
That was much better than the $US15.6 billion estimate in a Bloomberg survey.
The figure compared with a trade surplus of $US19.53 billion in May, $US1.68 billion in April and a deficit in March.
It is the first trade data to be released since China let the Yuan trade more freely against the greenback on June 19.
The Yuan has strengthened 0.8% against the US dollar since then.
Exports to Europe were up 36% in June from a year earlier, while those to the US rose 28.3%.
China’s politically sensitive trade surplus with the US was $US17.6 billion.
Exports to Russia climbed 84%, and more than doubled to Brazil for a third successive month.
Exports hit a record $US137.4 billion in June, up from the previous top of $US136.68 billion in July 2008, before the global financial crisis worsened with the collapse of Lehman Brothers in September of that year.
Imports climbed to $117.4 billion, the third highest this year (because imports in June 2009 were recovering from the slump).
The 34% rise in imports in June was slower than May when imports soared 48.3% from May 2009 (when they were depressed by the impact of the slump).
In the first half of the year, the surplus declined 43% from the same period last year to $US55.3 billion, the customs bureau said.
That was due to higher prices for many imports, including coal, iron ore and coking and thermal coal, as well as the recovery in the economy generally this year compared with the first half of 2009.
In the first half of 2010 exports rose 35.2% to $US705.09 billion while imports were up 52.7% to $US649.79 billion dollars.
China’s foreign trade in the first half totalled $US1.35 trillion, up 43.1% from the first half of last year.
