| Main features |
| Overview |
| Prices |
| In the March quarter 2008, the index of export prices of Australian mineral resources (export unit returns) increased marginally by 0.5 per cent compared with the December quarter 2007, as higher energy prices were almost fully offset by lower prices for metals and other minerals. Strong oil and coal prices supported a 5 per cent increase in prices for energy minerals. Compared with the March quarter 2007, the index of export prices was nearly 4 per cent lower, with higher energy prices (up nearly 8 per cent) more than offset by a decline in prices for metals and other minerals (down 10 per cent). Prices for metals and other minerals have declined over the past 12 months, largely as a result of increased supply for some commodities and weaker demand growth driven by the uncertainty surrounding the outlook for the US economy. |
| Exports |
| Overall, total export earnings from Australia’s mineral resources was unchanged at $27.1 billion in the March quarter 2008, compared with the previous quarter. Stronger prices for a significant proportion of major minerals and energy commodities compensated for the effect of a stronger Australian dollar and lower volumes for some commodities. There were significant increases in export earnings in the March quarter 2008 for: thermal coal, up $292 million (16 per cent) to $2085 million; refined gold, up $363 million (15 per cent) to $2858 million; copper, up $190 million (13 per cent) to $1700 million; nickel, up $132 million (10 per cent) to $1485 million; and iron ore and pellets, up $190 million (4 per cent) to $4729 million. The higher earnings reflect slightly higher export volumes and higher prices for most of these commodities. There were significant declines in export earnings in the March quarter 2008 for: lead, down $288 million (43 per cent) to $387 million; uranium oxide, down $87 million (34 per cent) to $172 million; zinc, down $294 million (31 per cent) to $651 million; metallurgical coal, down $387 million (12 per cent) to $2910 million; and alumina, down $175 million (12 per cent) to $1286 million. The decline in the value of metallurgical coal and lead earnings reflects lower export volumes shipped, while the fall in the value of zinc, alumina and uranium oxide earnings is the result of both lower export volumes and lower prices. |
| Production |
| Production of a wide range of key minerals and energy commodities was lower in the March quarter, largely as a result of adverse seasonal weather conditions (cyclones and heavy rainfall) during the quarter. Production was lower for diamonds, blister copper, gold mine, refined copper, zinc ores and concentrates, uranium oxide, copper ores and concentrates, salable black coal and natural gas. Wet weather, causing damage to the pit access ramp and restricted access to higher grade ore, resulted in lower diamond production at Rio Tinto’s Argyle mine in Western Australia. Production from the Argyle mine is likely to continue to fluctuate as the company makes the transition from opencut mining to underground mining. Oil and gas production was lower in the quarter as a result of maintenance at some fields and cyclones off the north coast of Western Australia. The reduction in production of copper ores and concentrates, blister copper and refined copper was attributable to lower production at BHP Billiton’s Olympic Dam and Xstrata’s Mount Isa mines. Lower production of lead and zinc ores and concentrates was the result of the closure of Perilya’s Beltana mine in South Australia. Australian production of uranium oxide declined by 14 per cent to 2510 tonnes in the March quarter in line with lower production at the Ranger and Olympic Dam mines. The production of lead bullion increased by 21 per cent during the March quarter compared with the December quarter. This reflected a return to normal production after the fire at Xstrata’s Mount Isa zinc-lead concentrator in October, 2007. |
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 |
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2008 |
Mar 07 to Mar-08 |
Dec 07 to Mar-08 |
|||
 |
|||||
unit |
Mar qtr |
% change |
% change |
||
|
|||||
| Bauxite s | $m |
57 |
39.8 |
7.5 |
|
| Alumina a | $m |
1 286 |
–13.3 |
–12.0 |
|
| Aluminium (ingot metal) | $m |
1 194 |
–17.6 |
2.1 |
|
|
|||||
| Coal, black | |||||
| – coking | $m |
2 910 |
–21.7 |
–11.7 |
|
| – steaming | $m |
2 085 |
21.6 |
16.3 |
|
| Copper f | $m |
1 700 |
10 |
12.6 |
|
| Diamonds c s | $m |
141 |
–27.7 |
–23.0 |
|
| Gems, other than diamonds | $m |
18 |
15.9 |
100 |
|
| Gold, refined | $m |
2 858 |
13 |
14.5 |
|
|
|||||
| Iron | |||||
| – iron ore and pellets | $m |
4 729 |
35 |
4.2 |
|
| – iron and steel | $m |
447 |
0.1 |
13.7 |
|
| Lead f | $m |
387 |
–10.0 |
–42.7 |
|
| Magnesia | $m |
17 |
16.9 |
–5.6 |
|
|
|||||
| Manganese ore | |||||
| and concentrate s | $m |
378 |
247.1 |
43.7 |
|
| Nickel f s | $m |
1 485 |
–32.4 |
9.8 |
|
| Petroleum | |||||
| Crude oil and other | $m |
2 564 |
33.4 |
1.1 |
|
| – LNG | $m |
1 505 |
18 |
4.3 |
|
| – LPG | $m |
299 |
37.5 |
–6.3 |
|
| – refinery products | $m |
332 |
45.1 |
–9.3 |
|
| Salt | $m |
41 |
–31.7 |
–31.7 |
|
| Silver, refined | $m |
56 |
6.7 |
21.7 |
|
| Tin f | $m |
18 |
92.8 |
157.1 |
|
|
|||||
| Titanium | |||||
| – ilmenite concentrate d | $m |
31 |
7.7 |
3.3 |
|
| – leucoxene concentrate | $m |
2 |
–79.8 |
0 |
|
| – rutile concentrate | $m |
71 |
11.2 |
–1.4 |
|
| – synthetic rutile s | $m |
74 |
–5.0 |
–5.1 |
|
| – titanium dioxide pigment | $m |
92 |
–5.2 |
–2.1 |
|
| Uranium oxide (U3O8) | $m |
172 |
21 |
–33.6 |
|
| Zinc f | $m |
651 |
–34.8 |
–31.1 |
|
| Zircon concentrate e | $m |
107 |
–17.6 |
–0.9 |
|
|
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| a Includes aluminium hydroxide. b Metallic content of all ores, concentrates, intermediate products (where applicable) and refined metal. c Unsorted and sorted. d Bulk and bagged ilmenite before January 1992; bulk only thereafter. e All grades, bulk and bagged, before January 1992, standard grade only thereafter. f Value of all ores, concentrates, intermediate products (where applicable) and refined metal. s ABARE estimate. na Not available. Sources: Australian Bureau of Statistics, Canberra; ABARE. |
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|
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2008 |
Mar 07 to Mar-08 |
Dec 07 to Mar-08 |
|||
unit |
Mar qtr |
% change |
% change |
||
|
|||||
| Bauxite | kt |
15 905 |
4 |
–1.0 |
|
| Alumina | kt |
4 792 |
7.8 |
–2.7 |
|
| Aluminium (ingot metal) | kt |
486 |
0.8 |
–1.6 |
|
|
|||||
| Coal | |||||
| – black, raw s | Mt |
90 |
–9.1 |
–8.2 |
|
| – black, salable s | Mt |
68 |
–11.7 |
–11.7 |
|
| – brown a s | Mt |
na |
|||
|
|||||
| Copper | |||||
| – mine b s | kt |
205 |
–6.8 |
–13.9 |
|
| – blister c | kt |
88 |
–18.5 |
–18.5 |
|
| – refined | kt |
101 |
–15.1 |
–15.8 |
|
| Diamonds | ‘000 ct |
2 277 |
–36.4 |
–62.9 |
|
|
|||||
| Gold | |||||
| – mine b s | t |
52 |
–14.8 |
–16.1 |
|
| – refined | t |
99 |
7.6 |
–1.0 |
|
|
|||||
| Iron | |||||
| – iron ore and concentrate | kt |
80 564 |
19.7 |
–1.4 |
|
| – iron | kt |
1 636 |
3.2 |
1.9 |
|
| – raw steel | kt |
2 021 |
3.1 |
3.1 |
|
|
|||||
| Lead | |||||
| – mine b s | kt |
169 |
1.8 |
5.6 |
|
| – bullion c | kt |
41 |
64 |
20.6 |
|
| – refined | kt |
52 |
10.6 |
2 |
|
| Manganese | kt |
1 254 |
2 |
–7.8 |
|
|
|||||
| Nickel | |||||
| – mine b s | kt |
49 |
4.3 |
4.3 |
|
| – intermediate | kt |
15 |
0 |
25 |
|
| – refined, class 1 | kt |
26 |
13 |
4 |
|
| – refined , class 2 | kt |
6 |
20 |
100 |
|
|
|||||
| Petroleum, field | |||||
| – crude oil and condensate | ML |
5 916 |
–9.8 |
–7.4 |
|
| – LPG (naturally occurring) | ML |
829 |
–20.1 |
–17.3 |
|
| – natural gas | Mm3 |
8 989 |
–0.8 |
–10.4 |
|
|
|||||
| Petroleum, refinery | |||||
| LPG | ML |
396 |
15.5 |
12.2 |
|
| – automotive gasoline | ML |
3 814 |
–10.5 |
–11.1 |
|
| – aviation turbine fuel | ML |
1 262 |
–1.2 |
–5.3 |
|
| – automotive diesel oil | ML |
2 926 |
0.6 |
–7.3 |
|
| – other | ML |
969 |
26.3 |
1.6 |
|
| – total | ML |
9 368 |
–2.0 |
–7.1 |
|
| Salt | kt |
2 790 |
8.6 |
0.9 |
|
|
|||||
| Silver | |||||
| – mine b s | t |
500 |
5.5 |
7.8 |
|
| – refined | t |
149 |
–4.5 |
8 |
|
|
|||||
| Tin | |||||
| – mine b s | t |
483 |
–17.6 |
–9.9 |
|
| – refined | t |
0 |
–100.0 |
na |
|
|
|||||
| Titanium | |||||
| – ilmenite concentrate | kt |
585 |
–1.2 |
0.2 |
|
| – leucoxene concentrate | kt |
29 |
–14.7 |
–32.6 |
|
| – rutile concentrate | kt |
87 |
31.8 |
–3.3 |
|
| – synthetic rutile s | kt |
151 |
–13.7 |
–17.0 |
|
| – titanium dioxide pigment | kt |
50 |
–2.0 |
–3.8 |
|
| Uranium oxide (U3O8) | t |
2 510 |
20.6 |
–14.1 |
|
|
|||||
| Zinc | |||||
| – mine b s | kt |
365 |
12.7 |
–13.7 |
|
| – refined | kt |
121 |
1.7 |
–6.2 |
|
| Zircon concentrate | kt |
147 |
8.9 |
–5.8 |
|
|
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| a Quarterly data are not available. b Total metallic content of minerals produced. c Metallic content. s ABARE estimate. na Not available. Sources: Australian Bureau of Statistics, Canberra; Joint Coal Board; Queensland Coal Board; ABARE. |
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| Commodity highlights |
| Energy |
| Oil and gas |
| In the March quarter 2008, Australia’s oil production totalled 5.9 gigalitres, 7 per cent lower than the December quarter 2007 and 10 per cent lower year on year. Natural gas production was also lower in the March quarter, declining by 10 per cent to around 8990 million cubic metres. Lower oil and gas production reflects adverse seasonal weather conditions along the northern coast of Western Australia and maintenance at a number of facilities, including the Karratha gas plant and the Mutineer Exeter oil field. However, export earnings from petroleum products increased by 0.8 per cent in the March quarter compared with the December quarter. A higher crude oil price was the underlying factor. |
| Coal |
| Australian production of raw and salable black coal is estimated to have declined in the March quarter by 8 per cent and 12 per cent, respectively. This decline largely stemmed from lower coal production in Queensland following significant rainfall in the Bowen Basin at the beginning of 2008. A number of mines were forced to declare force majeure as floodwater entered pits and cut access roads to mines. Export earnings from black coal declined by 2 per cent in the March quarter compared with the previous quarter as higher thermal coal export earnings were more than offset by a decline in earnings from metallurgical coal exports. The decline in metallurgical coal export earnings reflects lower export volumes. |
| Uranium |
| Production of uranium oxide decreased by 411 tonnes (14 per cent) in the March 2008 quarter compared with the December quarter because of lower production from the Ranger and Olympic Dam mines. Production at these mines was adversely affected by lower grade ores. Accordingly, export earnings from uranium declined by 34 per cent in the March quarter, reflecting lower export volumes and prices. |
|
| Metals and other minerals |
| Iron Ore |
| Australian iron ore production was down more than 1 per cent in the March quarter owing to seasonal conditions. Production is traditionally lower in the March quarter because of tropical rain and storms in Western Australia. Despite this, export earnings from iron ore and pellets increased by 4 per cent in the March quarter, underpinned by higher export volumes. Higher export volumes during the quarter are a result of the timing of shipments. |
| Gold |
| Australia’s gold mine production was 10 tonnes (16 per cent) lower in the March quarter. Production during the quarter was the lowest since June 1992. This reflects the closure of several mines, lower than expected production at a number of new projects and changes to mine sequencing plans by several major producers. Export earnings from gold increased by 15 per cent in the March quarter, largely reflecting a 18 per cent increase in export prices. |
| Copper |
| Production of all forms of copper (mine, blister and refined) declined in the March quarter compared with the December quarter. Lower mine production resulted from reduced output at the Northparkes, Mount Isa, Osborne and Nifty mines. Lower concentrate processing at the Mount Isa mine contributed to lower refined output from the Townsville Copper Refinery. Despite lower production in the March quarter, export earnings from copper increased, reflecting higher export volumes and export prices. |
| Nickel |
Nickel mine production remained relatively unchanged in the March quarter from that in the December quarter. The value of nickel earnings increased by 10 per cent in the March quarter as higher export volumes offset lower export prices. |
| Zinc |
| Zinc mine production declined by 58 000 tonnes (14 per cent) in the March quarter compared with the December quarter. Production was lower because of the closure of Perilya’s Beltana mine in South Australia in February 2008. Refined production was largely unchanged over the quarter. Export earnings from zinc declined by 31 per cent during the March quarter because of lower volumes of ores and concentrates shipped and lower zinc prices. |
|