Part of the increased demand from China can be explained by the construction-intensive activity taking place there, and part by reduced Chinese production of iron ore and coal, as the fall in prices has seen some of the high-cost mines in China being closed.
For both iron ore and coal, Australian companies are among the lowest-cost producers and so gain when higher-cost firms exit the scene. Factors such as this have kept Australian exports doing relatively well so far, and would seem to offer significant long-term opportunities, including for this region.