Exporters in the mining industry are expecting to make a strong recovery this year, with 71% confident of increasing their orders in the next 12 months, according to the 2009 DHL Export Barometer.
The report, released yesterday, showed that mining exporters are the most confident of all the surveyed sectors, followed by service and manufacturing exporters on 65%.
Austrade Chief Economist Tim Harcourt told MINING DAILY this confidence can be attributed in part to the stimulus packages that have been distributed in China.
“We’ve seen in the overall export data a lot of coal and iron ore going into China and India. Australia also has a comparative advantage in terms of mining exports in some of the emerging economies in the Middle East and Latin America,” he said.
The DHL Export Barometer also found that 89% of the mining industry has been negatively affected by the Global Financial Crisis. This is also the highest figure, compared to a national average of 71%.
According to Harcourt, the survey indicates these negative impacts have all run their course and the confidence has grown as a result.
“The next 12 months are going to be a lot brighter,” he said.
864 exporters from a variety of industries were surveyed by ACA Research for this year’s edition.