Abare: 09-10 Copper Exports Expected A$6.2 Billion, +8% On Year

Australia's earnings from copper exports during the fiscal year starting July 1 are expected to rise 8% to A$6.2 billion, the Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics said Tuesday.

That's a turnaround from a decline of 14% to A$5.8 billion in export earnings during 2008-09, when plummeting world market prices canceled out increased export volumes and a lower Australian dollar, Abare said.

Production is going to reach nearly 1 million metric tons during 2009-10, up 9% on the year.

That's mainly attributable to the start-up of Newmont Mining Corp.'s (NEM) Boddington gold mine, with significant copper by-product, as well as OZ Minerals Ltd.'s (OZL.AU) Prominent Hill copper-gold operation.

In other base metals, aluminum export earnings are expected to fall 26% to A$3.5 billion during 2009-10, after already recording a drop of 5% last year to A$4.7 billion.

Export earnings from alumina, a raw material in aluminum metal production, will drop 19% to A$4.9 billion as a result of lower prices, Abare said.

In nickel, Abare forecasts export volumes during 2009-10 to drop 20% to 152,000 tons. But despite this large decline, export values are forecast to rise 9% to A$2.9 billion underpinned by higher world prices.

-By Elisabeth Behrmann, Dow Jones Newswires;

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