Terms-of-trade bust arrives as export prices tank

The Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) has released export and import prices for the December quarter, which portends a sharp fall in Australia’s terms-of-trade when the national accounts are released in early March.

According to the ABS, export prices tanked by 5.2% over the December quarter but were up by 4.1% over the year, whereas import prices rose by 0.7% over the quarter and were up by 1.4% over the year:

According to the ABS, the dive in export prices was driven mostly by Metalliferous ores and metal scrap (-9.1%), Coal, coke and briquettes (–14.7%), and Gas, natural and manufactured (-2.3%), partly offset by Meat and meat preparations (+6.9%).

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About the author

Leith van Onselen is Chief Economist at the MB Fund and MB Super. He is also a co-founder of MacroBusiness. Leith has previously worked at the Australian Treasury, Victorian Treasury and Goldman Sachs.