The Queensland Transport Minister Scott Emerson released some encouraging figures on coal exports yesterday, which I’ve charted below (Ports back to pre-GFC coal volumes):

In part, the strong growth rates in the chart above reflect the coal industry recovering from the impacts of natural disasters. The media release notes:

Treasurer and Minister for Trade Tim Nicholls said the record July coal export totals were a further indicator that the Queensland economy was recovering from the effects of both the GFC and natural disasters.

“The consistent message that’s coming from the economic data is that Queensland is performing well and is the best place in Australia for businesses to invest and grow,” Mr Nicholls said.

“Our rural exports are also up, increasing 2.4 per cent in 2012-13 and more than a quarter of all business investment in Australia is happening in Queensland.”

I’ll be interested to hear what the QRC says about this latest data, after the reports we’ve had about the Queensland coal industry contracting recently.

There is also some positive news on tourism coming out of Cairns Airport, which Mark Beath has been monitoring:

Domestic flyers surge in July

Regarding Queensland’s economic outlook, while the overall economy will probably remain subdued over the next six months, data such as these suggest that it shouldn’t get any worse, and it may indeed get a bit better.