Issue link: https://viewer.e-digitaleditions.com/i/103334
forefront "Queensland alone is targeting growth of up to 20 new coalmines to export an additional 55 million tonnes of coal a year." offset lower prices. For comparison, in 2009/10, the value of Australia's minerals exports was $138 billion. That growth is massive in anyone's terms and is a solid counter to falling prices. Minerals exports currently account for about half of Australia's total exports of goods and services, with coal and iron ore making up one-third. Australia emerged as the leading coal exporter in the world. Liquefied natural gas (LNG) began to emerge as another major export revenue stream – Australia is about to rival Qatar as the biggest exporter of LNG in the world. There are nine LNG plants under construction or planned in Queensland, Western Australia and the Northern Territory that will deliver this growth. Expansion of iron ore exports continued unabated, although prices per tonne declined. China continued to require massive quantities of iron ore. According to Businessweek, China now has no fewer than 2,700 steel mills, many of them small and inefficient although viewed in China as essential for job creation to prop up its authoritarian regime. Now, almost every small town in China wants its own steel mill. A major impediment to coal exports has been the lack of sufficient coal-handling facilities at Australian ports. Even after port upgrades to reduce the incredible wait time of up to two months for ships anchored offshore, the export surge still saw up to 200 ships at a time waiting to gain entrance to ports on the east coast. Although these delays were reduced in 2012, the demand for coal seems insatiable. Queensland alone is targeting growth of up to 20 new coalmines to export an additional 55 million tonnes of coal a year. The biggest coal export port in the world was approved for Abbot Point to handle an initial 300 million tonnes per year, having an astonishing seven terminals. The new port will need a massive rail expansion to handle the quantities of coal coming from mines spread hundreds of kilometres apart in the expansive Bowen Basin. The outlook for 2013 The government's efforts to talk up the longevity of the mining boom were supported by a timely report from independent economic forecaster BIS Shrapnel, which predicts mining industry investment, going forward, is still several years away from peaking. According to the report, mining and heavy-industry construction activity will continue to rise. Multibillion dollar projects spanning LNG, iron ore and coal will drive the next leg of the rolling minerals boom, but growth will not match the experience of the 2000s, with capacity constraints again returning to the fore. Mining investment is set to peak in 2014. After that, non-mining investment will stabilise and start to pick up, taking over as the engine of growth and smoothing the transition, the BIS Shrapnel report predicts. Australia is fortunate to have a wide resources base to balance out ups and downs in individual commodities. According to BIS Shrapnel, Queensland 61