Index of Commodity Prices October 2015

Preliminary estimates for October indicate that the index fell by 1.1 per cent (on a monthly average basis) in SDR terms, after falling by 0.2 per cent in September (revised). Declines in the prices of iron ore and coking coal were partly offset by higher gold prices. Both the base metals and rural subindices fell in the month. In Australian dollar terms, the index fell by 3.1 per cent in October.

Over the past year, the index has fallen by 19.8 per cent in SDR terms, led by declines in the prices of bulk commodities. The index has fallen by 7.4 per cent in Australian dollar terms over the past year.

Consistent with previous releases, preliminary estimates for iron ore, coking coal and thermal coal export prices are being used for the most recent months, based on market information. Using spot prices for these commodities, the index fell by 2.7 per cent in October in SDR terms, to be 21.7 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 2015).