Australia's copper output for the fiscal year that starts July 1 is set to rise 13% to 1 million metric tons, the Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics said Tuesday.

Output during the current fiscal year ending June 30 is forecast to rise 4%, as higher output at BHP Billiton Ltd.'s (BHP) Olympic Dam mine will offset mine closures late in 2008.

The precipitous fall in metal prices during the current year will undermine copper export earnings, expected to fall 19% to A$5.5 billion during 2008-09, despite the sharp depreciation of the Australian dollar offsetting some of the declines in international metal prices.

However, next fiscal year a rise in both export volumes and prices is forecast to result in a 2% increase in copper export earnings, to A$5.6 billion, Abare said.

Aluminum output is expected to have remained steady at around 1.96 million tons in 2008-09, but output is forecast to decline by around 3% to 1.9 million tons in 2009-10, as a result of reduced production at Alcoa Inc.'s (AA) Portland smelter in Victoria.

-By Elisabeth Behrmann, Dow Jones Newswires;

61-2-8272-4689 elisabeth.behrmann@dowjones.com