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Australia’s mining machinery imports fell 62% in November and December, the biggest fall since the global financial crisis, according to one of the country’s largest freight forwarders of heavy equipment.
In November and December imports of heavy machinery dropped more than 62% according to Skelton Sherborne which have been collecting this data since before 2008 crisis, suggesting that Australia’s mining boom may be falling prey to dire global economic forecasts after all.
Mining Australia quotes Skelton Sherborne director Brad Skelton as saying the introduction on new mining and carbon taxes have also affected the industry:
“If everything is as wonderful as [mining companies] say, why is there a slowdown in the last two months in the volume of equipment coming into the country?” he said.
As well as measuring heavy machinery imports the company said its tyre index showed heavy machinery tyre imports had also fallen dramatically late last year.
NoosaNews quotes Skelton on how the data foreshadowed the 2008 financial crisis:
“The index was able to predict how the sector was affected by the GFC [global financial crisis]. It showed mining equipment imports slumped in the last half of 2008, as the GFC arrived, and the first half of 2009. There was a 90% drop in the number of machines being shipped into Australia. This represented a decrease of $350,000,000 in the value of the machinery imported.
The numbers from Skelton seem to contradict that of Caterpillar, the number one provider worldwide of mining equipment.
CAT delivered record-breaking sales and revenues in 2011 supplying profits of just under $5 billion, up 83% from last year and said it would grow sales this year. It also had encouraging predictions for the globe’s economic growth and the mining sector in particular. Read more…
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