Commodity boom to continue as demand outweighs supply, says IMF

THE International Monetary Fund says the boom in metal prices, which has driven a surge in Australian export income, may only be halfway through its growth spurt

In the fund's biannual World Economic Outlook, published today, it shrugs aside recent commodity market jitters to state there are ''few convincing signs'' that key metal supplies are catching up with demand.

After studying swings in global metal prices since 1850, the fund says the commodity boom that began earlier this decade is only about halfway through the average growth period of 20 years.

Demand for base metals such as iron ore and copper had continued to surge ahead of supply for the last decade and extra production was failing to keep up, despite the global mining investment boom. (more)