SYDNEY, July 5 (Xinhua) -- Export trade in the northern Australian State of Queensland has made a strong recovery one year on from a devastating cyclone that tore through the region shutting down ports and disrupting coal production.
Overall, the Australian Bureau of Statistics' figures on Wednesday recorded a 19.2 percent increase in exports over the year to May quarter in 2018.
According to the State's Premier and Minister for Trade Annastacia Palaszczuk, Queensland's traditional strengths in the mining sector along with the growing global demand for renewable energy have been the reason for the sharp increase.
"Queensland's coal exports topped 10 billion Australian dollars (7.4 billion U.S. dollars), reflecting the improvement in volumes from a year ago when disruptions following Severe Tropical Cyclone Debbie were at their greatest," the Premier said.
When the category 4 storm rolled in at the end of March 2017 with wind gusts of 270 km per hour, landslides knocked out the country's busiest rail line linking coking coal mines to the state's export ports.
It took the industry over five weeks to repair the lines and was estimated by ANZ Bank's commodity strategist Daniel Hynes to have effected around 13 million tonnes of coking coal, a key metal used in steel making around the world.
In other export markets, liquid natural gas skyrocketed by over half a billion Australian dollars over the year to May, generating almost 3 billion Australian dollars (2.2 billion U.S. dollars) for the Queensland economy.
"In a pleasing sign for domestic supply, that increase reflected rising export prices rather than volumes, which have stabilised below capacity as more Queensland gas goes into the domestic market," Palaszczuk said.
Although the news was mostly good, Palaszczuk did acknowledge that due to an ongoing lack of rainfall and the damage caused by Cyclone Debbie, the agriculture sector has continued to struggle.
"While we've seen a rise in the value of meat exports, indications are that is due at least in part to some graziers destocking given prolonged drought conditions," she said.
