Index of Commodity Prices October 2020

Release date:

Preliminary estimates for October indicate that the index increased by 1.2 per cent (on a monthly average basis) in SDR terms, after increasing by 2.1 per cent in September (revised). The rural, non-rural and base metals sub-indices all increased in the month. In Australian dollar terms, the index increased by 2.8 per cent in October.

Over the past year, the index has decreased by 0.3 per cent in SDR terms, led by lower LNG coal and oil prices. The index has decreased by 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 decreased by 1.4 per cent in October in SDR terms, to be 1.6 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 2020).