Australia projects iron ore exports to rise
The Australian authorities explain that the country is receiving strong demand for iron ore from China. This is expected to raise the iron ore exports from Australia to China in the 2003-04 period. According to the Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics (ABARE), this rise of around 3.5% to take place in the exports will also grow the revenue that Australia obtains from iron ore exports next financial year. The growth of revenue is expected to be around 5% as the price of this commodity continues to rise. According to such scenario, the iron exports of Australia will increase by 6.3 million tons to 187.5 million tons in 2003-04. Such volume of exports would be worth around $5.5 billion up from the $5.2 billion exports value recorded in the financial year 2002-03. For the next five years, Australia expects its iron ore exports to grow by 25 million tons which equals to a 14%, to reach a total of 206 million tons. These projections are closely related to the developments in the international steel market, and particularly to the Chinese steel industry, taking the demand for iron ore to higher levels. The Chinese demand is also foreseen to support the price increases of this commodity, until the stock levels increase, by when the prices start to moderate. According to the Australian ABARE projections, the iron ore prices will continue to rise in 2004 and 2005 in line with the growing demand on top of limited availability, however a decrease can be expected thereafter.