The RBA has released its commodity price index for October, which registered another 1.1% decline in SDR (currency weighted) terms – the key determinant of the terms-of-trade – and a 3.1% fall in Australian dollar terms:
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.
