Index of Commodity Prices October 2018

Release date:

Preliminary estimates for October indicate that the index increased by 3.0 per cent (on a monthly average basis) in SDR terms, after increasing by 0.4 per cent in September (revised). The non-rural and base metals subindices increased in the month, while the rural index decreased. In Australian dollar terms, the index increased by 3.7 per cent in October.

Over the past year, the index has increased by 13.1 per cent in SDR terms, led by higher LNG, iron ore, coking coal and thermal coal prices. The index has increased by 22.3 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 2.8 per cent in October in SDR terms, to be 16.8 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 2018).