Column: Demand weakness helps cushion tin from supply problems
Tin demand last year was weaker than expected and is on course for only a modest recovery in 2024, according to the International Tin Association.
Australia’s trade surplus surged to a record high in December of $3.5 billion thanks to a mix of higher mineral exports and soaring commodity prices, in which some see the beginning of a new mining boom.
Exports’ value jumped 5% in December from November helped by a 14% increase in coal and a 10% rise in iron ore shipments, outstripping imports which rose 1%, figures from the Australian Bureau of Statistics published Thursday show.
Higher commodity exports delivered a record trade surplus of $3.5 billion in December, the second monthly trade surplus Australia has recorded in nearly three years.
Coking coal shipments surged by 46%, or $798 million, while iron ore fines exports increased their value by 27%, or $1 billion, in December alone.
Gold also played a part, with exports surging 23% to $1.7 billion.
The encouraging data sharply contrasts with the record deficit of $4.3 billion the country recorded only 12 months ago.
HSBC chief economist Paul Bloxham told AAP the export boom should considerably boost company profits, dividend payments, share prices and wages in the mining sector.
His comments will be tested beginning next week, as some of Australia’s top mining companies including Rio Tinto (ASX, LON:RIO), BHP Billiton (ASX:BHP), Newcrest Mining (ASX:NCM) and South32 (ASX:S32) are set to start reporting their 2016 results.
This is only the second monthly trade surplus Australia has recorded in nearly three years, which evidences once again the country’s continued reliance on and vulnerability to changes in commodities markets.
The news comes on the back of a report from the Department of Industry, Innovation and Science, which predicted that Australia’s mining and energy export earnings would jump by 30% between 2016 and 2017, hitting a small yet encouraging record of $204 billion.
3 Comments
Altaf
We all know that for the last 25 years, China was ramping up metal, power production. It required that ores, coal imports needed ramp up. At last China has reached equilibrium of imports and metal production.
As China is slowly moving away from manufacturing economy to service economy, the metals are not required in the same quantities. Better mills with higher efficiencies require lower and lower ores and demand itself will keep falling. Theoretically this should start lower imports and glut in global markets. But China still keeps importing more and more. Why?
It has reached Phase 2.0. Now it started storing ore so that it has more say in determining prices. A stage will come when China has the ore requirement of 5-10 years. Then it will call all the shots.
The current growth in exports of Australia and all oterh nations including Brazil are going towards reserves. In their eagerness to surpass one another, exporters are lowering costs, building supermax ships, falling head over heals to export to China. China is ready to take low cost ore as much as they can supply, because it wants to use the trade surplus cash to be invested in ores rather than US bonds. China has the capacity to build ore mountains in interior arid lands. It has lots of them.
SnakePlissken
So Australia has a trade surplus, and only 30 million people, while the USA has a trades deficit of over $500 BILLION, and 330 million people, but USA is EXPECTED to take immigrants ??? Now do you know why we voted for Trump ??? Reality is, the deal regarding immigrant/refugees with AUS taking the Latinos and USA getting the Arab/Muslims, which was made by Obama, was made because Obama wanted to ‘Fundamentally Change America’ by making it a Muslim Continent. Go ahead, wake up the sleeping giant – we can only hope you are that stupid.
Peter
Australia as only 24m people.
We take in more immigants, per capita, than any other “rich” countyr