Asia Surge To Aid Commodities

The Age

Sunday July 30, 1995

Barry FitzGerald

A fleet-footed Australian resources industry stands to benefit from the surge in Asian demand for commodities, according to the stockbroker ANZ McCaughan Securities.

In its foundation issue of the Asian Mining Review, the broker said that world growth in demand for commodities was unquestionably dominated by the Asia region.

``During the next five years almost 70 per cent of demand growth for base metals will come from the region, and 60 per cent of world demand for coal and iron ore," the report said.

The broker's resources research manager, Mr Chris Bain, said the Asian region was a prime target for Australian companies.

``Australia has the proximity, technical ability and resources to emerge as an increasingly central and major player in the region's growth, both through the supply of commodities and the development of new resources within Asia," Mr Bain said.

He said while Asia attracted only 5 per cent of global exploration expenditure, Australian companies were accounting for just under one-third of the total.

A feature of the research report was ANZ McCaughan's survey of Australian companies' perception of Asian countries according to their attractiveness for mining investment.

Indonesia took out first position on an overall basis due to number-one ratings for mining law, government imposts and political risk.