For example, the protracted negotiations led to a reduction in the volume of fertilisers exported to international customers, and also affected other sub-groups in the energy sector. For 2001 however the sector is expected to operate at or near capacity with minor stoppages.
There is evidence in the aggregate data of higher inflation of wages in the mining industry, and across Western Australia more generally (Graph 7). While the growth of these wages has picked up a little recently, this is unlikely to be sufficient to account for the magnitude of some of the cost overruns being reported.