The RBA has released its commodity price index for May, which rebounded 1.5% in SDR (currency weighted) terms – the key determinant of the terms-of-trade – but slumped by 11.4% over the year:
Preliminary estimates for June indicate that the index increased by 1.5 per cent (on a monthly average basis) in SDR terms, after increasing by 1.1 per cent in May (revised). The non-rural, rural and base metals sub-indices all increased in the month. In Australian dollar terms, the index decreased by 3.1 per cent in June.
Over the past year, the index has decreased by 11.4 per cent in SDR terms, led by lower coal, iron ore, oil and LNG prices. The index has decreased by 11.2 per cent in Australian dollar terms.
