RBA commodity price index falls again

Australia's export commodity prices fell again in June to their lowest level since January 2011.

The Reserve Bank of Australia's (RBA) index of commodity prices in June was 0.7 per cent lower in foreign currency terms than in May.

The price index is measured in terms of special drawing rights (SDRs), an average of four major currencies - the US dollar, euro, Japanese yen, and British pound.

In June, the index was 11.5 per cent lower than at its peak in July last year, but still up by 215 per cent since the end of 2003, around the time the minerals boom starting lifting prices.

In other words, prices are still more than three times then pre-boom level, despite the fall since the middle of 2011.

The RBA said the largest contributors to the drop in June were falls in the prices of oil and thermal coal, although base metals and most rural commodities suffered falls as well.

Coking coal and gold posted partially offsetting rises.

Commodity prices are widely seen by economists to be a major driving force behind fluctuations in the value of the Australian dollar.

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