Trading places: Japan gives Chinese elbow   (Category: Financial News) JUST a year after being knocked off by China as Australia's biggest trading partner, Japan has soared back to the No 1 spot. Trade statistics for last year, released yesterday, show Japan's two-way trade with Australia jumped 39 per cent, thanks chiefly to massive rises in prices for coal and iron ore. China is a big ore customer, but buys little coal from Australia because of its large domestic production. Two-way trade with Japan was worth $73 billion last year, narrowly edging out China at $72bn. Japan last year bought $53bn worth of Australian goods, China $37bn and South Korea $20bn, followed by the US and then by India, which has risen rapidly up the table, moving from seventh to fifth last year. Coal dominated Australia's overall exports, providing 17 per cent of total revenues as earnings leapt by 125 per cent in 2007 to $47bn. Apart from iron ore, coal receipts were three times greater than for any other export. Iron ore revenues rose 85 per cent to $30bn, thanks largely to higher prices driven by Chinese demand. The next biggest export earner, education services, was well behind, although revenues rose 23 per cent to $16bn. Article from: The Australian June 18, 2009 (edited) Back   Print this article