Australia Keeps Record Commodity Sales Forecast Little Changed

By Madelene Pearson

Sept. 22 (Bloomberg) -- Australia, the world's largest shipper of coal, iron ore and wool, kept its forecast for record earnings from commodity exports little changed driven by continued demand from China for steelmaking ingredients.

Sales may rise to A$214 billion ($178 billion) in the 12 months ending June 30, 2009, the Canberra-based Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics said today in an e-mailed statement. That compares with its June forecast of A$212 billion and revised sales of A$149 billion a year earlier.

Prices for iron ore and coal, Australia's top two export earners, rose to a record this year, helping boost profits for producers including BHP Billiton Ltd. and Rio Tinto Group. Global demand for resources is still ``very, very robust,'' BHP Chief Executive Officer Marius Kloppers said last week.

``Earnings from iron ore, coal, oil and liquefied natural gas are forecast to account for almost 98 percent of the growth in total energy and mineral export earnings,'' the bureau's executive director Phillip Glyde said in the statement. ``The short-term prospects for energy and mineral commodities remain positive, supported by continued demand growth and supply-side constraints.''

Australia's exports of minerals and metals are forecast at about A$90 billion, 25 percent higher than a year earlier, while earnings from energy commodities are forecast to jump 98 percent from a year earlier to A$90 billion, the bureau said.

To contact the reporter on this story: Madelene Pearson in Melbourne on mpearson1@bloomberg.net