Index of Commodity Prices December 2017

Preliminary estimates for December indicate that the index increased by 3.5 per cent (on a monthly average basis) in SDR terms, after decreasing by 0.1 per cent in November (revised). Iron ore and coking coal prices led the increase. The rural subindex increased in the month, while the base metals subindex declined. In Australian dollar terms, the index increased by 3.7 per cent in December.

Over the past year, the index has decreased by 5.9 per cent in SDR terms, led by lower iron ore and coking coal prices. The index has decreased by 5.1 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 increased by 8.5 per cent in December in SDR terms, to be 6.8 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).