Australia posted a seasonally adjusted merchandise trade surplus of A$11.688 billion in January, the Australian Bureau of Statistics said on Tuesday.
That missed expectations for a surplus of A$12.500 billion and was down from A$12.237 billion in December.
Exports were up 1.4 percent on month to A$58.847 billion, driven by metal ores and minerals.
Imports climbed 4.6 percent on month to A$47.160 billion, fueled by non-industrial transport equipment.
