Saudi Arabia’s trade balance returned to the black in May as the kingdom posted a $500mn surplus following an extremely rare $300mn deficit in April (MEES, 3 July). The shift is due to a steep drop in Saudi Arabia’s import bill from $10.2bn in April to $9.2bn in May, the lowest in more than four years. Exports actually continued their fall in May, from $9.9bn to $9.7bn, although the value of key oil exports did edge up $300mn to $6.7bn. May was the first month of steep Opec+ production cuts, when Saudi Arabia’s gross oil exports fell by 3.7mn b/d. Production was cut further in June (MEES, 10 July), but prices also firmed up, so revenues may also have edged up further.