18 Minerals Council of Australia Input output tables released by the AB S can be used to estimate the fow on effects of uranium industry expansion on the broader economy 4 The contribution of uranium mining to the Australian economy Input output tables are a rich source of economic information The AB S releases input output tables on a regular basis The most recent version available corresponds to the fnancial year 200910 and was released in September 2013 One of the key uses of input output tables is m u l t i p l i e r analysis Multipliers are an estimate o f h o w a n economy changes with respect to a c h a n g e typically 1 unit in a given sector Multipliers work on the principle that each industry has to purchase inputs from other industries and in turn supplies inputs to yet other industries Each industry directly affects the output employment and income of almost all other industries Under some simplifying assumptions it is possible to calculate the inter relatedness of the industries that make up the Australian economy Unfortunately these assumptions are quite strict and multiplier analysis can only provide a rough guide to policy analysis Nonetheless multipliers are easily understood and have the important characteristic that they emphasise the relatedness of the economy A policy that impacts one part of the economy very often has fowon effects that can be and often are overlooked Historically the AB S estimated multipliers f o r only 28 industries The information available is far more disaggregated Uranium is a non ferrous metal and the AB S provides input output tables for nonferrous metals Multipliers calculated for nonferrous metals generally are applied to uranium in this analysis Size In the frst instance the simple output multiplier and total output multiplier for the nonferrous metal economy the fnancial years 200607 to 200910 was calculated The result of this exercise is shown in table 5 Over the time span considered the output multipliers were reasonably constant The average of the total output multiplier was approximately 21 indicating that for an additional 1 of uranium output other industries contributed 210 additional input stimulus to satisfy an increase in 1 unit In other words for every 1 the uranium industry w as permitted to grow an extra 210 was estimated to be generated from other industries The uranium economy is small when compared to other energy based commodities such as coal It represents however a signifcant growth opportunity In practical terms according to the Resources and Energy Quarterly 16 uranium exports were valued at 622 million As recently as 200809 that fgure was 990 million In the most recent period South Australia produced nearly 70 per cent of those exports Therefore an increase in 10 per cent of this share 44 million would represent a growth potential of over 90 million to the South Australian economy 200607 200708 200809 200910 Average Simple output multiplier 161836 1510046 1691408 1664126 1620985 T otal output multiplier 210158 2003283 2131955 2121468 2089572 T able 5 Nonferrous metals output multipliers Source Authors calculations