DCN December Edition 2019

“Some of the minerals have come back. So the port is
performing very well, or as expected, and certainly
our ongoing relationship with the Northern
Territory government has been very positive so we
are working very collaboratively on the development
of the north generally.”
Mr Hughes notes the relatively small scale of
container trade at Darwin.
“Looking forward, one of our challenges has always
been that the scale of containerised traffic through
Darwin is small, so maintaining a cost-effective supply
through Darwin is a challenge and we clearly need to
build scale.”
MACRO PERSPECTIVE
If Darwin Port often reflects the state of the NT
economy, it is worth seeking some macro perspective.
In a recent economic briefing paper, Deloitte Access
Economics forecast the Territory economy to grow by
an average of 2.7% per annum over the five years to
2022-23, compared with forecast national growth of
2.5% over the same period.
“This is the second highest forecast five-year
average economic growth of the jurisdictions, equal
with Victoria, and is largely driven by exports. In
other jurisdictions, the five year annual average
economic growth ranges from 1.7% per annum in
South Australia to 2.9% per annum in Queensland,”
DAE stated.
Professor Rolf Gerritsen, principal researcher
and professorial research fellow at Charles Darwin
University is of a similar mind.
He notes that while the economy of Darwin is
still fairly slow, there were positive signs in other
parts of the Territory, for example a slight increase
in Alice Springs house prices “for the first time in
about five years”.
“I think it is partly that we had an unprecedented
tourist boom, mostly in central Australia,” Professor
Gerritsen says.
“In the north, or the Darwin region specifically,
tourism has been flat, and they’re looking for more
cruise ships to come in which looks like it might
happen,” he says.
“Tourism in the Territory has gone up, but mostly
PORT OF DARWIN 2018-19 STATS
TOTAL
^13 %
2154 vessel visits
Dry bulk exports
892,000
tonnes
114
LNG vessel visits
^ 64 in total
^%16
because of a huge increase in Central Australia.
“A huge number of people went to Uluru to climb
it in the last few months. That boom I suspect will
evaporate next year.”
Professor Gerritsen says the Territory mining
industry is “looking good”, notably phosphate and the
Nolans Bore rare earth deposit which is attracting
interest due to geopolitical tensions with China – a
major supplier of this commodity to the world.
“[Nolans Bore] is attracting a lot of attention.
The company that owns it, Arafura Resources, is a
fairly small Perth company. They are trying to get the
Australian government or the American government
– they’ve actually had talks with the US government –
because rare earth deposits are a strategic commodity
these days,” he says.
“That mine will go ahead, however it is financed.”
Overall, he says, mineral trades are going well, with
the exception of iron ore.
Cattle exports are also an area of strong business,
with predictions of an increase particularly if access
is gained to Indigenous land.
“One of the constraints on the Territory cattle
industry, particularly further south from Katherine,
is that there aren’t enough bores.”
Livestock exports
397,000
^9 %
Cruise
ship visits
^9 %
Source:
Port of Darwin
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