THE Reserve Bank of Australia has released preliminary estimates for the index of commodity prices in October, revealing a decline of 1% on a monthly average basis, in special drawing rights (SDR) terms, following a revised rise of 1.3% in September.

“The largest contributors to the fall in October were the declines in the prices of iron ore, gold and crude oil, while the base metals and the rural subindices increased in the month,” the RBA said.

October estimates reflect the index trend over the past year, which has fallen by 1% in SDR terms.

“The prices of gold, coking coal and thermal coal have fallen over this period, while the price of iron ore has risen,” the report says.

“As indicated in previous releases, preliminary estimates for iron ore, coking coal and thermal coal export prices are being used for recent months, based on market information.

“Using spot prices for these commodities, the index declined by 1.4 per cent in October in SDR terms, to be 0.3 per cent lower over the past year.”

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