Gold is set to become the country’s second most valuable resource export after iron ore in the 2025/26 financial year, displacing liquefied natural gas, as concerns about geopolitical instability fuelled demand for the safe-haven metal, Australia’s Department of Industry said in its September report.
Since then, the outlook for Australia’s exports of resource and energy commodities has “improved markedly”, it said in its December report.
The department raised by A$14-billion the country’s expected resource export earnings for the current financial year, which will bring earnings close to 2024-2025’s A$385-billion.
While that is still shy of the immediate post COVID-era peak of A$466-billion in 2022–2023, resources export earnings remained robust in historical terms, it noted.