)
Exports of food and live animals more than doubled in the March quarter compared to the previous year says the latest Queensland interstate trade figures from the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS).
The Interstate Trade Queensland report shows the value of exported food and livestock was $899 million in the March Quarter, compared to $428 million for the same period in 2012.
Overall trade figures remained relatively steady year on year, with $9,306 million worth of imports in to Queensland and $4,490 million exports.
Marsden Jacob Associates senior consultant Gene Tunny says the increase in exports in the primary industries is most likely due to the recovering live export markets.
The import value into Queensland was down 10 per cent compared to the December quarter, while imports were down 25.4 per cent on the same period.
Tunny says it is hard to draw conclusions fromt he data.
“The figures are not seasonally adjusted and you need to take into account the impact of the floods as well,” says Tunny.
)
