Index of Commodity Prices November 2016

Preliminary estimates for November indicate that the index increased by 10.2 per cent (on a monthly average basis) in SDR terms, after increasing by 8.4 per cent in October (revised). The increase was led by the prices of coking coal and iron ore. The base metals subindex increased in the month, while the rural subindex was little changed. In Australian dollar terms, the index rose by 10.2 per cent in November.

Over the past year, the index has increased by 32.1 per cent in SDR terms, led by higher coking coal and iron ore prices. The index has increased by 24.0 per cent in Australian dollar terms.

Consistent with previous releases, preliminary estimates for iron ore, coking coal, thermal coal and LNG export prices are being used for the most recent months, based on market information. Using spot prices for the bulk commodities, the index rose by 15.6 per cent in November in SDR terms, to be 61.9 per cent higher 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 and ‘Weights for the Index of Commodity Prices’ (April 2016).