Index of Commodity Prices November 2012

Preliminary estimates for November indicate that the index rose by 1.7 per cent (on a monthly average basis) in SDR terms, after falling by 2.9 per cent in October (revised). The largest contributors to the rise in November were increases in the prices of iron ore and coking coal. The prices of rural commodities also increased, while the prices of base metals declined in the month. In Australian dollar terms, the index fell by 0.1 per cent in November.

Over the past year, the index has fallen by 11.6 per cent in SDR terms. Much of this fall has been due to declines in the prices of coking coal and iron ore. The index has fallen by 16.3 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.

For further details regarding the construction of the index, please refer to ‘Updating the RBA's Index of Commodity Prices’ in the October 2009 issue of the Bulletin.