By Rhiannon Hoyle
SYDNEY--The value of investment in Australia's resources
industry is falling as major developments are completed and
companies scale back spending on new projects, according to the
government's commodities forecaster.
There were 63 mining and energy projects committed to by
companies in Australia in October, worth a combined 240 billion
Australian dollars (US$219 billion), the latest figures from the
Bureau of Resources and Energy Economics, or Bree, show. That was
down from 73 projects worth some A$268 billion six months earlier,
it said Wednesday.
The fall in investment was largely the result of the completion
of several megaprojects--including BHP Billiton Ltd.'s (BHP) A$5
billion Jimblebar mine-and-rail project in the iron-rich Pilbara
region, the bureau said.
"Australia is now seeing a transition from the investment phase
of the resources boom to the production phase," Bree's deputy
executive director Wayne Calder said in a statement.
The government forecaster in May warned investment in the
Australian resources sector may slide by more than two-thirds over
the next five years after a fall in commodity prices prompted major
mining groups like BHP to rein in their expansion plans.
Write to Rhiannon Hoyle at rhiannon.hoyle@wsj.com