Metal ore mining profits dropped 40% in FY13

Latest figures from the Australian Bureau of Statistics show profits for metal ore miners in Australia dropped by more than $20bn in the 2012/13 financial year.

Photo: BHP Billiton

Key stats on mining operations released yesterday by the ABS reveal that after recording $50.6bn in operating profits before tax in the 2011/12 financial year, metal ore miners earned just $29.7bn in 2012/13, a drop of 41.3%.

Employment in metal ore mining went down from 68,754 to 68,536 – a reasonably small decline of just 218 jobs overall. But wages and salaries went up by almost 20%, rising from $8.2bn to $9.8bn.

The numbers were more dire in coal mining, which saw operating profit before tax drop from $14.3bn in 2011/12 to just $1.7bn in 2012/13.

Employment in coal mining went down by 1500 or so jobs, from 44,914 to 43,380, but wages went up from a total of $6.05bn to $6.25bn, year-on-year.

Of particular concern was a massive slowdown in the exploration and other mining support services sector. Employment in that sector dropped from 48,822 to 46,350. And after already recording an operating loss before tax of $894m in 2011/12, the sector recorded an operating loss before tax of $2.8bn in 2012/13 – almost three times the loss it reported in 2011/12.

The sector which did the best in the ABS’s numbers was oil and gas, which saw a modest increase in employment, and saw profits lift from $18.4bn to $25.7bn.

Source from here