Vaile – Minerals and Energy Drive Further Export Growth

Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Trade, Mark Vaile, said today increased returns from minerals and energy exports would help continue the rebalancing of the Australian economy towards the export sector.

Commenting on the release of the Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics (ABARE) September issue of Australian Commodities, Mr Vaile said increased commodity earnings would help continue recent growth in exports.

“Commodity export earnings are forecast to rise by 19 per cent in 2005-06 to around $117 billion in what will be a significant boost to our balance of trade figures,” Mr Vaile said.

“This is being largely driven by minerals and energy which are forecast to grow 28 per cent to $87.2 billion, up from $68.3 billion.

“These figures reflect rising prices for key commodities such as coal, crude oil and LNG where significant investment by the private sector over the past four or five years is beginning to bear fruit.

“Expansion in these key industries will now allow Australia to capitalise on the continued demand for resources from countries such as China, which is driving world growth and is expected to do so for some time yet.

“The minerals and energy boom will offset a slight drop in farm exports. Farmers’ terms of trade are forecast to decline as the impact of high fuel prices kicks in, a reminder that many on the land are still doing it tough.”

Mr Vaile said he expected the rosy outlook for commodities exports would lead to another record export performance on top of 2004-05’s record of $162.3 billion.

“Our export performance last financial year reflected growth across the board, including services, manufacturing, rural goods and resources,” Mr Vaile said.

“It demonstrates that the Government is helping exporters by providing a strong economic environment and low interest rates to enable them to tap into markets around the world.

“We must continue to work hard to develop new opportunities through the Doha Round of world trade talks and through our bilateral negotiations to ensure the markets are there for our world-class exporters.

“But we must also continue the program of reform of our domestic economy, including in areas such as industrial relations, to ensure that we stay competitive with the rest of the world.”

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