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Australia exported A$64.8 billion (US$67.9 billion) worth of goods to China in the last fiscal year that ended June 30, 2011, out of which iron ore and concentrate shipments to China made up almost 62 percent, according to data from Australia’s Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade.Therefore any slowdown in its biggest export market, will have a ripple effect on Australia’s mining sector say market watchers, who forecast commodity prices will trend lower because of an expected decline in Chinese demand. “There’s a sense that there’ll be weakness in the first half and that will weigh on soft metals,” Peter Hickson, Global Commodities and Basic Materials Strategist at UBS, told CNBC. BHP Billiton, the world's biggest miner, also said on Tuesday it was seeing signs of “flattening” iron ore demand from China.
Aussie to Hurt
The Australian dollar fell to a two-month low on Thursday on news that new factory orders in China sunk to the lowest level in four months, according to HSBC’s preliminary measure of manufacturing activity.
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