Foreign Trade
International trade is an integral and fundamental component of the Territory economy. The Northern Territory has a rich endowment of resources including natural gas, manganese, alumina, iron ore, lead and zinc.
In 2009-10, the Northern Territory’s international trade surplus was $4.1 billion. International merchandise trade (goods only) accounted for $3.7 billion of the surplus.
Exports in the Northern Territory are dominated by mineral and energy commodities, with important exports being natural gas, manganese, cattle, iron ore, pearls and gems. Major imports include refined fuels, machinery and transport equipment.
International Trade 2009-10
Northern Territory |
Australia |
|
|---|---|---|
| Exports $M | 7905 | 299 548 |
| Imports $M | 3808 | 290 642 |
| Trade Balance $M | 4097 | 8906 |
| Ratio of Trade Balance to GSP/GDP | 24.3 | 0.7 |
In 2009-10 the value of merchandise exports increased by 10% to $7 billion, made up of LNG, minerals, live cattle and pearls. In 2009-10, imports decreased by 24.4% to $3.3 billion largely due to lower imports of feedstock gas from Bayu-Undan for the Darwin LNG plant following a maintenance shutdown.
The Northern Territory’s major merchandise trading partners include North East and South East Asia (mainly Japan, China and Singapore), North America, and the Middle East. In 2009-10 the Territory's trade surplus accounted for 24.3% of gross state product. Nationally, net exports accounted for 0.7% of gross domestic product. This indicates the relative significance of trade to the NT economy.
Source: 2011-12 NT Budget.
Content current at 27 May 2011.
