TABJ - June 16 - Australian energy and mineral export earnings fell to A$ 40.3 billion for the March quarter due to severe weather in the country’s mining regions.

The Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics and Sciences (ABARES) said earnings for the last quarter fell 10 per cent down on the previous quarter.

ABARES chief commodity analyst Jammie Penn remarked: “The fall in export earnings reflected lower export volumes for a number of commodities, including metallurgical and thermal coal, copper, iron ore and pellets as well as crude oil and other refinery feedstock.

“Heavy rain and flooding in Queensland and NSW affected metallurgical and thermal coal production, while heavy rain in Western Australia resulted in lower iron ore production for the March quarter.”

Despite the bad weather, export declines were partly offset by an increase in commodity prices, after energy and mineral resources export prices increased by 9 per cent in March.