Biggest Exporting Industries in Australia in 2020

1. Iron Ore Mining in Australia

Exports for 2020: $70.8B

The Iron Ore Mining industry has benefited from rising prices and higher production volumes over the past five years. As a result, industry revenue is expected to increase at an annualised 1.7% over the five years through 2019-20, to $83.4 billion. However, this trend includes an anticipated 8.7% decline in the current year, due to reduced iron ore prices and demand from China as the COVID-19 pandemic results in lower steel manufacturing output. Despite this, strong economic growth in China over the past decade has driven developments in Australian iron ore mining to meet Chinese demand for greater steel production.... Learn More

2. Black Coal Mining in Australia

Exports for 2020: $67.0B

Black coal is a key input into steelmaking and energy generation. Although black coal deposits are found all over the world, Australia is one of the world's lowest cost producers and a major black coal exporter. Domestic reserves exceed domestic demand, are high grade and economical to access. As a result, exports account for a large share of industry revenue. Imports are negligible in the industry, as total local production has been higher than domestic demand for black coal.

Industry revenue is expected to rise at an annualised 10.4% over the five years through 2018-19. Volatile trading conditions have affected industry... Learn More

3. Oil and Gas Extraction in Australia

Exports for 2020: $61.9B

The Oil and Gas Extraction industry has had significant revenue growth over the past five years, despite exhibiting high volatility. Changes in oil and gas prices, exchange rate movements, domestic and export demand for oil and gas, and annual production volumes all influence the industry’s performance. Industry output has expanded over the past five years, while world oil and natural gas prices have declined. Australian natural gas production, which makes up most of the industry, is expected to increase at an annualised 16.3% over the five years through 2018-19. Although the world price of natural gas has fallen over the... Learn More

4. Liquefied Natural Gas Production in Australia

Exports for 2020: $53.6B

The Liquefied Natural Gas Production industry has rapidly expanded over the past five years, as strong project development has increased the scale of the industry. Australian liquefied natural gas (LNG) exports have increased from 15.4 million tonnes in 2009-10 to an expected 74.8 million tonnes in 2019-20. Industry revenue has increased at an annualised 23.8% over the five years through 2019-20, to total $53.6 billion.

The wave of project development that occurred across the industry over the past decade has now concluded. 10 LNG facilities are operational in 2019-20, including the Prelude and Ichthys projects, which shipped their first cargoes in... Learn More

5. Gold and Other Non-Ferrous Metal Processing in Australia

Exports for 2020: $21.9B

The Gold and Other Non-Ferrous Metal Processing industry mainly processes semi-refined gold. Semi-refined gold and gold dore bars are supplied from gold ore mining firms to the industry to be further processed into refined gold. Refined gold volumes are expected to total 358.7 tonnes in 2019-20, up from 300.4 tonnes in 2014-15, due to higher mining volumes and greater demand for industry services. Although the industry refines a substantial volume of gold, some firms do so for a fee. These firms do not own either the gold bullion feedstock or the refined gold produced. The refining fee earned by these... Learn More

6. Meat Processing in Australia

Exports for 2020: $15.4B

The Meat Processing industry has performed weakly over the past five years, mainly due to a large base year in 2014-15. In addition, the COVID-19 outbreak has limited industry growth in the current year, further constraining the industry's performance. Production volumes of lamb and mutton, and beef and veal have been volatile over the past five years. Strong export demand has boosted domestic beef and lamb prices and encouraged farmers to sell livestock over the period. Increased prices have helped boost revenue for meat processors. Industry revenue is expected to grow at an annualised 0.1% over the five years through... Learn More

7. Alumina Production in Australia

Exports for 2020: $7.1B

Australia is the world's largest producer of bauxite and alumina, and the world's largest exporter of alumina. Alumina is made by applying the Bayer process to bauxite. Alumina can then be further refined into aluminium. The Alumina Production industry is highly concentrated, and has only three major players: Alcoa, Rio Tinto and South32. Each firm is vertically integrated, with upstream bauxite mining and downstream aluminium smelting operations.

Revenue for the Alumina Production industry is expected to decline at an annualised 1.2% over the five years through 2019-20. Significant fluctuation in the global price of alumina over the past five years has... Learn More

8. Copper, Silver, Lead and Zinc Smelting and Refining in Australia

Exports for 2020: $6.7B

Revenue for the Copper, Silver, Lead and Zinc Smelting and Refining industry is expected to increase at an annualised 7.0% over the five years through 2018-19, to reach $3.3 billion. This solid growth has been due to higher prices for copper, zinc and lead in Australian dollar terms, and despite lower copper production volumes. Industry revenue is expected to increase by 14.1% in the current year, as copper output and prices grow. Industry exports are expected to total $6.8 billion in the current year, substantially above industry revenue for the year. Industry firms often processes metal from for a fee... Learn More

9. Pharmaceutical Product Manufacturing in Australia

Exports for 2020: $6.0B

Several favourable demand factors have affected the Pharmaceutical Product Manufacturing industry over the past five years, including an ageing population and a greater incidence of chronic disease. Increased local and global demand for consumer healthcare products has also benefited some industry operators. However, the industry has also faced several challenges over the period, including a changing regulatory and risk environment, a patent cliff that has taken away players' exclusive manufacturing rights to many highly profitable drugs, and reform-driven pricing pressures. Ongoing PBS reforms have heavily influenced the industry, as mandatory price disclosures have continued to reduce prices. Intensifying competition from... Learn More

10. Copper Ore Mining in Australia

Exports for 2020: $5.8B

Copper is one of the world's most versatile and useful metals. It conducts heat and electricity and is widely used in electronic devices and electrical wiring. Computers and other digital devices require heat sinks to prevent overheating and these systems are often made of copper. Australia is one of the world's major copper mining countries, behind Chile, Peru, China and the United States. Chile alone represents more than one-quarter of global copper output.

Australia's copper ore production is projected to grow in 2018-19 as the industry's major players increase their output in response to stabilising prices. In the current year, industry... Learn More