Commodity prices have bottomed, says Western Australia premier

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Perth: Commodity prices, down 62 percent from last year’s record, have probably bottomed as mining companies cut production and stockpiles decrease, Colin Barnett, premier of Western Australia state told Bloomberg in an interview.
“There’s some evidence that volume is starting to increase again and prices are starting to edge up,” Barnett, 58, said in Perth. The state produces 15 percent of the world’s iron ore and nickel and 10 percent of its gold, he said.
The state accounts for more than half of Australia’s exports to China, where the government’s 4 trillion yuan ($585 billion) spending plan is boosting demand for steel and iron ore. Developing Asian economies will probably expand 5.5 percent according to the International Monetary Fund this year as economies in the U.S., Japan and the euro zone combat the first simultaneous recessions since World War II.
“Asia will continue to grow,” said Barnett. “The fundamentals of Asia haven’t changed and the Western Australian economy” is heavily entwined with the region, he said. [11/02/09]