The Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) today released concrete production statistics for the month of June, which revealed a 20% decline in concrete volumes over the month.
The data is incredibly volatile and presumably affected heavily by seasonality. As such, it is presented below in index form on a rolling annual basis:
According to the ABS, concrete production rose by 1% nationally over the year on a rolling annual basis. This increase was driven by the Northern Territory and Western Australia, which experienced a 41% and 11% increase respectively, presumably on the back of mining investment. However, nationally and in Western Australia, the growth took place over the first half, with concrete production basically flatlining over the past six months. By contrast, concrete production is falling in both Tasmania and the ACT.
Obviously, this is a marginal indicator only. Nevertheless, it does support the view that mining investment is slowing in Western Australia.