The Department of Industry, Innovation and Science on Monday released its quarterly update on the resource and energy sectors, projecting that resource exports will be worth 282 billion Australian dollars (190.7 billion U.S. dollars) this financial year exceeding the record of 279 billion Australian dollars (188.7 billion U.S. dollars) set in 2018-19.
That figure would be a 54.6-billion-Australian-dollar (36.9 billion U.S. dollars) improvement on the value of resource exports in financial year 2017-18.
The strong forecast is on the back of soaring prices for iron ore and gold, with exports of the former expected to be worth an all-time record of 81.5 billion Australian dollars (55.1 billion U.S. dollars).
In 2018 the department forecast that iron ore exports in 2019-20 would be worth 55.7 billion Australian dollars (37.6 billion U.S. dollars) but a global supply shortage has turned the market around significantly.
Exports of gold are expected to be worth more than 25 billion Australian dollars (16.9 billion U.S. dollars), an increase of more than 25 percent from 2018's initial projections.
"The report highlights the importance of our mining industry in supporting our overall economic growth," said Matthew Canavan, minister for resources, according to The Sydney Morning Herald on Monday.
Latest comments