5302.0 - Balance of Payments and International Investment Position, Australia, March 2011 Quality Declaration 
ARCHIVED ISSUE Released at 11:30 AM (CANBERRA TIME) 31/05/2011   
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COMMODITY PRICE ADJUSTMENT


PRICE ADJUSTMENT

The balance of payments goods credits series are primarily based on international merchandise trade exports data (on a recorded trade basis) which are sourced from information provided by exporters to the Australian Customs and Border Protection Service (Customs and Border Protection). At the time of initial reporting to Customs and Border Protection the final prices may not be known for some commodities. New contract prices that have been recently negotiated, or are still being negotiated, for commodities like iron ore and coal may not be fully reflected in the initial Customs and Border Protection source data. Final prices are updated progressively in recorded trade data as exporters revise the information provided to Customs and Border Protection.

Balance of payments data have been adjusted for March quarter 2011 to take into account additional information on both the unit price and volume of iron ore exports. An adjustment of $400m has been made to the value of the 'metal ores and minerals' component. No adjustment has been applied to the 'coal, coke and briquettes' component. As revisions to the recorded trade prices are provided to the ABS they will be incorporated into the balance of payments series and the adjustments reduced accordingly. All price adjustments previously applied to the 'metal ores and minerals' and 'coal, coke and briquettes' components have been removed.