Index of Commodity Prices July 2013

Preliminary estimates for July indicate that the index fell by 1.5 per cent (on a monthly average basis) in SDR terms, after falling by 3.9 per cent in June (revised). The largest contributors to the decline in July were falls in the prices of coal and gold, which were partly offset by increases in the prices of iron ore and crude oil. In Australian dollar terms, the index rose by 0.6 per cent in July.

Over the past year, the index has fallen by 11.8 per cent in SDR terms. Much of this fall has been due to declines in the prices of coking coal, gold and thermal coal. The index has fallen by 1.3 per cent in Australian dollar terms over the past year.

As indicated in previous releases, preliminary estimates for iron ore, coking coal and thermal coal export prices are being used for recent months, based on market information. Using spot prices for these commodities, the index increased by 2.3 per cent in July in SDR terms, to be 11.7 per cent lower over the past year.

For further details regarding the construction of the index, please refer to ‘Changes to the RBA Index of Commodity Prices: 2013’ in the March 2013 issue of the Bulletin.