Release date:
Preliminary estimates for December indicate that the index increased by 2.5 per cent (on a
monthly average basis) in SDR terms, after increasing by 4.1 per cent in November (revised). The
non-rural sub-index increased in the past month, whilst the base metals sub-index decreased, and
the rural sub-index was unchanged. In Australian dollar terms, the index increased by 0.3 per
cent in December.
Over the past year, the index has decreased by 10.7 per cent in SDR terms, led by lower thermal
coal and liquified natural gas prices. The index has decreased by 9.5 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 index, the index increased by 2.4 per cent in
December in SDR terms, to be 11.3 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 2023).
Details are in the attached table and graph.
