DUBLIN--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Research and Markets (http://www.researchandmarkets.com/research/e7aab5/australia_mining_r) has announced the addition of the "Australia Mining Report Q3 2011" report to their offering.
Australia is a leading player in many segments of the global mining industry. Owing to its substantial deposits, the country possesses an array of minerals including iron ore, nickel, bauxite, copper, gold, silver, uranium, diamonds, zinc and coal. The author expects that the value of the mining sector will reach US$124bn by 2015 growing at an annual average rate of 7.8% over the forecast period, from US$87.0bn in 2010. This growth is fairly uneven with 2011 figures relatively low because of flooding at the start of the year, before picking up as a plethora of projects, most notably by Rio Tinto, BHP Billiton and Xstrata, come online.
The author forecasts iron ore production output to show the greatest increase in output reaching 630mnt (million tonnes) in 2015 from 438mnt in 2010, marking an average annual growth of 7.6%. As iron ore accounts for the largest proportion of the mining sector's value by output, between 30-40%, this increase will have a significant bearing on the country's mining sector value. This growth will be driven by BHP and Rio Tinto as the former expects to increase output from 164 to 220mntpa in 2014 at its operations in Western Australia, while the latter is increasing production from 156mnt to 283mnt at its Pilbara operations in 2015. The author expects Australia to remain the world's largest bauxite producer with output growth averaging 9.7% per annum, reaching 107mnt in 2015, from 68mnt in 2010.
Australia's mining sector is one of the most business friendly in the world, with domestic companies and overseas miners operating in the country. The author expects Australia to remain a highly attractive destination for foreign investment despite the recently proposed 30% tax on mining companies' profits in coal and iron ore production. Indeed, the author does not expect the proposed tax will have a significant impact on investment in the country's mining sector as these concerns are likely to be outweighed by the country's mineral wealth. Moreover, the bill could be watered down as the ruling coalition has a majority of only one seat and thus it may be difficult to push the bill through parliament without compromise. If the bill is implemented, it is expected to be come into force from July 1 2012.
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