Australia Increases Commodity Export Sales Outlook to Record $203 Billion

NEWYORK, Sep. 21 --  Australia, the world’s largest shipper of coal, iron ore and wool, raised its forecast for commodity exports this fiscal year to a record amid rising prices and increasing demand.

Sales may be A$214.9 billion ($203.4 billion) in the year ending June 30, 2011, the Canberra-based Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics-Bureau of Rural Sciences said today in an e-mailed statement. That compares with its June estimate of A$202.5 billion and a revised A$170.6 billion for the previous year.

Australia is boosting production of commodities such as iron ore to meet rising demand from China. Production of crops including wheat and cotton is also forecast to increase this fiscal year after rainfall in the country’s eastern states ended drought in many areas and boosted dams for irrigation.

"Forecast increases in export shipments and higher prices for Australian iron ore and coal are the main reasons for the expected sharp increase in mineral resource exports,” the bureau said in a statement.

Earnings from energy and mineral exports are forecast at A$179.9 billion, an increase of 30 percent from the previous year, the report showed.

The value of farm exports is forecast to rise by 10 percent to A$31.4 billion led by increased crop production and favorable prices for commodities including wheat, barley, cotton, beef, sheepmeat and dairy products, according to the bureau.

A “strong performance” was also expected for gold, alumina and nickel, it said.