China's growth could save Australia's commodity market: industry leader

One of Australia's leading businessmen has given his strong endorsement to China's economy, saying it could allow Australia's commodities market to stave off an economic collapse.

Alberto Calderon, chief executive officer of the world's explosives giant Orica, said he was confident China's economy had "enormous" potential for further growth.

Calderon made the remarks at the Australian government-backed International Mining and Resources Conference in Melbourne on Wednesday.

"There may be hiccups along the way, but in the big picture China will continue to develop," Calderon said in his keynote address.

"So China isn't growing like crazy, it's still growing an enormous amount. China's not the issue for (Australian) commodities."

Orica, which is the largest provider of commercial mining explosives in the world, carries out 1,500 channel-clearing blasts a day for its global mining clients on average.

In August, the explosives maker downgraded its 2015-16 profit estimates by almost 1.2 billion U.S. dollars, or 10 to 15 percent, due to what Calderon described as a "challenging market."

But it wasn't all doom and gloom for the mining industry of resource-rich Australia, according to Calderon, who was appointed as Orica's CEO in May after a global candidate search.

He backed up his positive outlook with data from China's most recent five-year growth forecast.

Calderon expected China's gross domestic product (GDP) to continue to climb by 5.5 to 6 percent each year until the end of the decade.

Calderon conceded the mining industry was a volatile market at present, but by seeking out "deeper, hotter, harder and more geographically isolated" mineral deposits, mining corporations could maintain bumper profit margins. Endit