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EXPORTS

• Iron ore and concentrates and Non-monetary gold continued to be the leading exports from Western Australia, with export values of $6.9 billion and $2.9 billion respectively in the September quarter 2009.
• The export value of Iron ore and concentrates held steady from the previous quarter but was still $2.5 billion (27%) lower than the peak value recorded for the September quarter 2008.
• The export value of Non-monetary gold fell by 12% in the September quarter and by 26% from the same quarter of the previous year.
• After falling below $1.5 billion in the June quarter, Crude petroleum oils rose in export value to $1.85 billion in the September quarter 2009. However, this value was just over $1 billion (37%) lower than for the same quarter of the previous year.

2 INTERNATIONAL MERCHANDISE TRADE (a), By major commodity (Original Data)
	2008	2009
	September	June	September
Category of the SITC	$'000	$'000	$'000
MAJOR EXPORT COMMODITIES(b)
Iron ore and concentrates	9 436 924	6 882 345	6 921 689
Gold, non-monetary	3 955 002	3 308 932	2 915 582
Crude petroleum oils	2 938 254	1 496 515	1 852 991
Confidential items	1 587 277	1 556 330	1 626 146
Natural gas	1 730 203	1 191 494	1 291 677
Wheat	594 452	651 447	400 840
Liquefied propane and butane	207 952	126 139	172 904
Nickel	168 838	198 466	161 593
Nickel ores and concentrates	236 842	136 421	141 585
Ores and concentrates of base metal	151 307	106 266	134 069
Pigments, paints, varnishes and related materials	72 262	143 038	128 792
Live animals	119 622	120 679	113 004
Refined petroleum oils	114 460	84 403	98 178
Wool and other animal hair	47 707	96 789	52 330
Crustaceans, molluscs and aquatic invertebrates	46 513	93 268	28 554
Total exports(c)	22 798 218	17 713 311	17 417 119
(a) Care should be taken when comparing with commodities data prior to July 2005. For full details about changes to international trade statistics, users should refer to the Information Paper: Impact of introducing Revision 4 of the Standard International Trade Classification, 2008 (cat.no. 5368.0.55.10).
(b) Free on board (f.o.b.) value.
(c) Includes categories not listed.
Source: ABS data available on request, International Trade in Goods and Services, Australia (cat. no. 5368.0).

• In the September quarter 2009 China was the main export destination, receiving goods from Western Australia to the value of more than $6 billion.
• The value of exports to Japan rose from the June quarter, but was still nearly $1.9 billion lower than in the September quarter 2008. In addition, exports to the Republic of Korea fell in value to $1.3 billion, 36% lower than in the September quarter 2008 .
• Of the top ten exporting destinations, the two countries to show an increase in the value of goods received over the year were India ($370 million, up 23%) and Singapore ($180 million, up 25%).

3 INTERNATIONAL MERCHANDISE TRADE(a), Exports - Top 10 Countries
	EXPORTS
	Sep qtr 2008	Jun qtr 2009	Sep qtr 2009
Country	$'000	$'000	$'000
China	6 480 680	6 703 817	6 134 236
Japan	4 880 174	2 577 536	3 002 670
India	1 625 630	2 157 094	1 997 814
Korea, Republic of	2 097 286	1 382 778	1 337 475
Singapore	724 588	742 215	907 694
United Kingdom	1 464 705	535 629	717 366
Thailand	809 277	622 006	506 837
United States of America	661 090	191 781	301 655
Taiwan	442 170	319 884	294 575
Indonesia	395 097	266 078	252 789
Total Export(b)	22 798 218	17 713 311	17 417 119
(a) Free on board (f.o.b.) value
(b) Includes countries not listed.
Note: ABS data available on request, International Trade in Goods and Services, Australia (cat. no. 5368.0 )