Rio Tinto names Shell’s Katie Jackson as new copper chief
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Australian trade minister Craig Emerson has said Chinese demand will continue to give support to the country’s mining boom despite declines in export prices.
The Australian reports that Emerson made these remarks during the APEC summit in Russia on Thursday.
Although the trade minister concedes that prices for key commodities have fallen, he stated the there would still be “plenty of demand for Australian minerals” as China would “continue to grow at a strong rate.”
Dr. Emerson said mining booms are comprised of three phases – the first when prices rise in response to abrupt gains in demand, the second consisting of an investment boom as companies raise production, and the third involving a production boom on the back of capital investment.
According to the federal trade minister the “serious part of the production boom” in Australia had not yet arrived and is set to last for many years.
Speculation about imminent decline of the country’s flourishing resources sector has been rife in the Australian press of late, following a 50% plunge in iron ore prices over the past year and the impromptu declaration of an end to the Australian mining boom by resources minister Martin Ferguson two weeks ago.
Image courtesy of ABC News via Youtube
Comments
Johann Robertson
It’s all good and well to follow the 3 stages of a mining boom, but when all the major coal producers in Queensland are cancelling expansions, shutting down mines, and laying off staff, one wonders if we’ll see any boom at all in the 3rd production stage.