PERTH (miningweekly.com) – Increased commodity prices have contributed to the market capitalisation of Western Australian listed companies listed on advisory firm Deloitte’s WA Index increasing by 5.9% during the month of March, to end at A$125-billion.

Advisory firm Deloitte’s clients and markets partner for Western Australia, Tim Richards, noted that palladium was the best performer, experiencing an increase of 15% or $75/oz.

The rally came as a result of positive automobile sales in Europe, and encouraging sentiment from the Chinese market surrounding the positive intentions of the Chinese government to support future economic growth.


Iron-ore also performed strongly, increasing 10.9% from $49.40/t to $54.80/t, with the price surging after the Chinese Premier pledged to spend a combined 2.45-trillion yuan on road and railway construction to help China achieve a minimum gross domestic product growth rate of 6.5% for the next five years.

Crude oil also posted the third largest increase for the month, up 10% to $39.95/bl.

Richards said that the increase was owing to declining US production as a result of a fall in the number of active rigs, coupled with the Organisation for the Petroleum Exporting Countries hinting that Iran may, in the near future, agree to cap production levels to support prices.


Uranium was the worst performer this month, down 13% to $29.15/lb, with the decrease likely to have been based on a long-running theme of oversupply to the market post the tsunami and Fukushima nuclear power station disaster in 2011

Richards said this week that the market improvement recorded in the WA Index during March was also as a result of a number of Western Australian companies outside of the energy and resources sector performing well.

“The performance outside of Western Australia’s main sector demonstrates the state's commitment to other industries and technologies,” he said.

“The Deloitte WA Index movers and shakers for the month were in a range of sectors, demonstrating the continued diversification of the state’s economy. However, the performance of key commodities was a key driver behind this month’s overall positive performance.”