The RBA has released its commodity price index for May, which rebounded 1.8% in SDR (currency weighted) terms – the key determinant of the terms-of-trade – but slumped by 7.4% over the year:
Preliminary estimates for May indicate that the index increased by 1.8 per cent (on a monthly average basis) in SDR terms, after increasing by 2.4 per cent in April (revised). The rural, base metals and non-rural sub-indices all increased in the month. In Australian dollar terms, the index decreased by 1.7 per cent in May.
Over the past year, the index has decreased by 7.4 per cent in SDR terms, led by lower coal, iron ore, oil and alumina prices. The index has decreased by 2.5 per cent in Australian dollar terms.
