[cambodiabear]

Doesn't really matter the color of the smoke or the gov't: AUD, USD, or SDRs .... the debasement of paper FXs is across the board.

http://www.rba.gov.a...ity-prices.html
-- note: downloadable spreadsheet on right column

Preliminary estimates for August indicate that the index increased by 2.7 per cent (on a monthly average basis) in SDR terms, after rising 2.4 per cent in July (revised). The largest contributors to the rise in August were increases in the estimated prices of iron ore and coal. Also, the prices of wheat and barley rose sharply. In Australian dollar terms, the index rose by 0.8 per cent in August, following an increase of 2.1 per cent in July (revised).

Over the past year, the index has risen 53 per cent in SDR terms. Much of this rise has been due to increases in iron ore, coking coal and thermal coal export prices, although all components of the index increased over this period. With the appreciation of the exchange rate over the year, the index rose by 38 per cent in Australian dollar terms.

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.

For further details regarding the construction of the index, please refer to ‘Updating the RBA’s Index of Commodity Prices’ in the October 2009 issue of the Bulletin. -- see below





Updating the RBA’s Index of Commodity Prices
http://www.rba.gov.a...2009/oct/2.html

The ICP is a Laspeyres index, which means that the index is a weighted average of recent changes in commodity prices.3 While the initial weight given to each commodity reflects its relative importance in total commodity export earnings in the base period, at any point in time thereafter the effective weight of each commodity in the index reflects the impact of subsequent changes in its price. However, since export values change as a result of movements in quantities exported as well as changes in prices, it is necessary to update periodically the base-period weights to reflect changes in export volumes. In addition, since the importance of individual commodities in Australia’s export values changes over time – with the weight of some commodities becoming very small while others rise in importance – it is necessary to periodically review the commodities that are included in the index.

RBA staff have recently completed such a review, updating that conducted in 2003. As a result, starting with the release of the ICP for October on 2 November 2009, the following changes will be made:
the ICP will be re-based from 2001/02 to 2008/09;
crude oil will be reintroduced to the index and the whole history of the ICP back-cast accordingly; and
milk powder will be added and rice will be excluded from the index, back-cast to July 2008.