Index of Commodity Prices June 2017

Preliminary estimates for June indicate that the index decreased by 4.3 per cent (on a monthly average basis) in SDR terms, after decreasing by 7.2 per cent in May (revised). The decrease was led by declines in iron ore and coking coal prices. The rural subindex increased in the month, while the base metals subindex declined. In Australian dollar terms, the index decreased by 5.3 per cent in June.

Over the past year, the index has increased by 25.0 per cent in SDR terms, led by higher coal, iron ore and LNG prices. The index has increased by 20.2 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 declined by 5.1 per cent in June in SDR terms but remains 23.8 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 2017).