MINING INDUSTRY 2015-16

The Mining industry contracted across most key indicators in 2015-16. Earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) decreased 17.5% ($12.9b) to $60.8b in 2015-16, with the largest decreases in Metal ore mining (17.3% or $7.3b) and Oil and gas extraction (27.8% or $6.6b) related to falling commodity prices. These price reductions caused the Mining division Export Price Index to fall by 17.3% between 2014-15 and 2015-16. Employment and wages and salaries also continued to decline over this period.




2015-16 KEY MINING INDUSTRY FIGURES

		Employment at end June				Sales and service income				EBITDA(a)
		2014-15	2015-16	2014-15 to 2015-16		2014-15	2015-16	2014-15 to 2015-16		2014-15	2015-16	2014-15 to 2015-16
		no.	no.	%		$m	$m	%		$m	$m	%
06 Coal mining		40 548	37 176	-8.3		45 869	44 117	-3.8		6 015	6 399	6.4
07 Oil and gas extraction		22 760	19 147	-15.9		41 369	34 616	-16.3		23 594	17 043	-27.8
08 Metal ore mining
	0801 Iron ore mining	31 584	30 807	-2.5		70 413	54 937	-22.0		33 856	25 237	-25.5
	0803 Copper ore mining	5 913	5 297	-10.4		np	5 645	np		1 089	1 831	68.1
	0804 Gold ore mining	14 218	15 226	7.1		13 306	14 975	12.5		4 299	5 016	16.7
	0805 Mineral sand mining	3 694	3 385	-8.4		np	2 613	np		510	607	19.0
	0807 Silver-lead-zinc mining	4 541	3 913	-13.8		np	4 937	np		1 175	1 423	21.1
	0802, 0806, 0809 Bauxite, nickel and other metal ore mining	7 368	6 351	-13.8		8 258	7 294	-11.7		1 485	985	-33.7
	Total 08 Metal ore mining	67 318	64 978	-3.5		104 129	90 402	-13.2		42 415	35 098	-17.3
09 Non-metallic mineral mining and quarrying		12 176	12 129	-0.4		6 094	6 089	-0.1		^992	^1 110	11.9
10 Exploration and other mining support services		34 868	30 054	-13.8		15 865	13 719	-13.5		**664	*1 109	67.0
Total mining		177 670	163 484	-8.0		213 326	188 943	-11.4		73 679	60 760	-17.5
^ estimate has a relative standard error of 10% to less than 25% and should be used with caution
* estimate has a relative standard error of 25% to 50% and should be used with caution
** estimate has a relative standard error greater than 50% and is considered too unreliable for general use
np not available for publication but included in totals where applicable
(a) Earnings before interest tax depreciation and amortisation.
Source: Australian Industry 2015-16 (cat. no. 8155.0)

Employment in the Mining industry fell by 8.0% (14,186 people) with this contraction spread across almost all components of the industry. Exploration and other mining support services fell the furthest, reducing by 13.8% (4,814 people), while Oil and gas extraction fell 15.9% (3,613 people) and Coal mining decreased by 8.3% (3,372 people).

Sales and service income and EBITDA in the Mining industry declined in 2015-16 by 11.4% ($24.4b) and 17.5% ($12.9b) respectively. In both cases the majority of the decrease came from the Metal ore mining and Oil and gas extraction subdivisions. Lower sales figures for Metal ore mining were mainly the result of a large fall in iron ore prices, illustrated by a 17.2% fall in the Metal ore mining subdivision Export Price Index between 2014-15 and 2015-16. Similarly falling oil prices had a negative impact on the sales and service income reported for Oil and gas extraction. The Export Price Index for Petroleum, petroleum products and related materials fell by 33.5% between 2014-15 and 2015-16.

The estimates in this publication are not adjusted for situations where businesses report to the ABS on an off-June reporting year and can be impacted by price fluctuations. This particularly impacts on estimates for the Mining industry where reporting largely reflects the calendar year 2015. For estimates adjusted to a June financial year basis, see the 'Off-June adjusted estimates by subdivision' data cube, and for more information about the impact of off-June reporting on estimates, see the Technical note on Off-June Year adjusted estimates in this issue.