Iron ore prices are constantly rising and will fuel the Australian resources boom for at least one more year as per the Bureau of Resources and Energy Economics.
The chief commodities forecaster of the Australian federal government said that the export earnings from energy and minerals should rise 15% next year to $206 billion.
Out of this a record 460 million tones will be the export of iron ore. This is a 2.4% rise predicted for 2011-12. The rise is expected as the demand from China to make more steel is no where near ending. Miners all over the world, including in Australia are feeding this demand for iron ore and coal.
Mega projects lined up by Rio Tinto and BHP Billiton are going to supply the raw material for China and other Asian nations to grow. Besides iron ore the Bureau of Resources and Energy Economics said that 163 million tones of thermal coal will also be exported in 2011-12. This is not quite as large a leap as iron ore as in 2010-11 the export was pegged at 155 million tones.
Bureau of Resources and Energy Economics’ executive director and chief economist, Quentin Grafton said that despite the uncertainty surrounding the outlook for some European economies, Australia’s export volumes for most commodities have remained strong in the second half of 2011, while prices for many commodities have remained at historically high levels. He added that the increase in iron ore and thermal coal export volumes reflects recent expansions to mine and infrastructure capacity.