Mining and Resources

The Australian resources sector has boomed over the last decade riding on a global surge in demand for resources. The sector has a number of influences and risks that need to be considered when determining an outlook for the following 12 months. At home, the introduction of a mining and carbon tax, high labor costs, skills shortage, merger and acquisition and government regulation all influence the industry. More broadly the continued demand from Asian emerging market economics especially in China is prominent factors of the industry’s success (BREE, 2012).

The Figure indicates that the price return of S&P/ASX 200 Materials (sector) is floating, range from a peak of 17,160.44 to a low of 7,225.82 for the period 2008 to 2013. Specially, the price return declined dramatically during the economic expansion of May-November in 2008, increased slowly during the December of 2008 to April of 2011 recession, declined again during the recession of 2011-2012 and increased with the economic recovery from July of 2012.

Macroeconomic and International Factors
Australia’s demand for exports is exposed to foreign market risk. Concerning on the Asian emerging market economies slowdown, especially in China from 2009, which is led in particular by the U.S. continued slowdown in global economic growth, the continuously decreasing numbers in purchasing activity of China’s manufacturing sector indicate that the fall of demand in raw materials.

Additionally, Australian dollar in recent years has remained relatively strong, which dramatically impacts the foreign exchange rate, the revenue gaining from the sector are likely