Australia, the world's biggest iron ore producer, has forecast a 10% rise in exports in the next fiscal year as mining companies spend billions of dollars beefing up operations. Coal shipments are also set to soar.
However, current year iron ore production is expected to be down 10Mt to 463Mt, because of bad weather.
The Bureau of Resources and Energy Economics (BREE) predicts iron ore exports of 510Mt in the June 2013 financial year after downgrading its forecast for the current year.
Metallurgical and thermal coal exports are both set to rise by 13% from a year earlier, with the largest increases, in percentage terms, expected for LNG, up 21%, alumina, up 15% and copper exports up 10%.
Although economic growth has moderated in China since mid-2011, consumption and investment are expected to remain robust, with economic growth sustainable at around 8% through 2013.