--France revised Apr trade deficit 535 mln euros
--France adj trade balance above market expectations

Paris, July 13 (BridgeNews) - France posted a modest trade surplus of 517 million euros in May after a revised deficit of 535 million in April, according to figures released by the French customs office. Helped by an improved surplus in the non-military industrial trade balance, and particularly by exports of Airbus aircraft, the May data was better than the deficit of around 500 million euros many analysts had been expecting. .
The April trade balance was originally reported as a deficit of 483 million euros. The civilian industry surplus widened to 699 million euros in May from 121 million in April. With 16 Airbus aircraft sold in May compared with 14 in April, the surplus in this category rose to 1.210 billion euros from 951 million.
However the euro's weakness against the dollar at a period of high oil prices weighed on France's energy balance. Here the deficit widened to 2.073 billion euros in May from 1.980 billion in April.
Overall, on an adjusted basis, French foreign trade posted a surplus of 26.648 billion euros in May compared with a surplus of 26.347 billion euros in April.
French exports to its European Union partners improved with the surplus widening to 435 million euros in April from 308 million the previous month.
France's deficit with the other 11 euro zone countries in April became a surplus in May. Similarly the April deficit with the United States also was replace by a surplus in May. France's trade deficit with Japan narrowed in May.