Index of Commodity Prices October 2017

Preliminary estimates for October indicate that the index declined by 2.4 per cent (on a monthly average basis) in SDR terms, after decreasing by 0.6 per cent in September (revised). A decrease in the iron ore price more than offset increases in thermal and coking coal prices. The rural subindex and base metals subindex both increased in the month. In Australian dollar terms, the index decreased by 0.9 per cent in October.

Over the past year, the index has increased by 9.1 per cent in SDR terms, led by higher coal prices. The index has increased by 8.8 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 decreased by 6.0 per cent in October in SDR terms to be 2.1 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 and ‘Weights for the Index of Commodity Prices’ (April 2017).