The RBA has released its commodity price index for August, which registered a sharp 3.1% decline in SDR (currency weighted) terms – the key determinant of the terms-of-trade – and a 1.0% fall in Australian dollar terms:
Preliminary estimates for August indicate that the index fell by 3.1 per cent (on a monthly average basis) in SDR terms, after falling by 3.6 per cent in July (revised). The largest contributors to the decline in August were the prices of iron ore and oil. The base metals and rural commodities subindices both declined in the month. In Australian dollar terms, the index declined by 1.0 per cent in August.
