Australian Resources Investment Drops as Mining Boom Slows

   By Rhiannon Hoyle 
 

SYDNEY--The value of investment in Australia's resources industry is falling as major developments are completed and companies scale back spending on new projects, according to the government's commodities forecaster.

There were 63 mining and energy projects committed to by companies in Australia in October, worth a combined 240 billion Australian dollars (US$219 billion), the latest figures from the Bureau of Resources and Energy Economics, or Bree, show. That was down from 73 projects worth some A$268 billion six months earlier, it said Wednesday.

The fall in investment was largely the result of the completion of several megaprojects--including BHP Billiton Ltd.'s (BHP) A$5 billion Jimblebar mine-and-rail project in the iron-rich Pilbara region, the bureau said.

"Australia is now seeing a transition from the investment phase of the resources boom to the production phase," Bree's deputy executive director Wayne Calder said in a statement.

The government forecaster in May warned investment in the Australian resources sector may slide by more than two-thirds over the next five years after a fall in commodity prices prompted major mining groups like BHP to rein in their expansion plans.

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