MARCH KEY FIGURES

	Dec Qtr 08 to Mar Qtr 09	Mar Qtr 08 to Mar Qtr 09
	% change	% change
Import Price Index all groups	-2.8	14.6
Food and live animals	-4.4	17.6
Beverages and tobacco	6.4	10.4
Crude materials, inedible, except fuels	-21.3	25.5
Mineral fuels, lubricants and related materials	-32.5	-34.4
Animal and vegetable oils, fats and waxes	1.8	26.3
Chemicals and related products, n.e.c.	-8.9	19.2
Manufactured goods classified chiefly by material	2.0	26.2
Machinery and transport equipment	3.8	20.6
Miscellaneous manufactured articles	5.1	34.6
Commodities and transactions, n.e.c.	15.7	34.4
Export Price Index all groups	-4.6	42.8
Food and live animals	-10.2	16.1
Beverages and tobacco	1.8	1.2
Crude materials, inedible, except fuels	-9.7	33.2
Mineral fuels, lubricants and related materials	0.4	142.7
Chemicals and related products, n.e.c.	-2.0	18.1
Manufactured goods classified chiefly by material	-22.9	-24.7
Machinery and transport equipment	0.7	20.8
Miscellaneous manufactured articles	-0.9	16.3

IMPORT PRICE INDEX: all groups, Quarterly % change

EXPORT PRICE INDEX: all groups, Quarterly % change

MARCH KEY POINTS


IMPORT PRICE INDEX

• The Import Price Index decreased by 2.8% in the March quarter 2009. The decrease was driven mainly by falls in prices paid for petroleum, petroleum products and related materials (-32.5%) and fertilisers (-55.5%). These falls were partly offset by rises in prices paid for gold, non-monetary (+15.7%) and road vehicles (+4.7%). Through the year to March quarter 2009, the Import Price Index increased by 14.6%.

EXPORT PRICE INDEX

• The Export Price Index decreased by 4.6% in the March quarter 2009. The decrease was driven mainly by falls in prices received for metalliferous ores and metal scrap (-12.0%), non-ferrous metals (-27.5%) and petroleum, petroleum products and related materials (-22.7%). These falls were partly offset by rises in prices received for coal, coke and briquettes (+5.2%) and gold, non-monetary (+15.7%). Through the year to March quarter 2009, the Export Price Index increased by 42.8%.

NOTES

FORTHCOMING ISSUES

ISSUE (QUARTER)	Release Date
June 2009	17 July 2009
September 2009	23 October 2009
December 2009	22 January 2010
March 2010	23 April 2010

FORTHCOMING CHANGES

As foreshadowed in the December quarter 2008 issue, the content and format of tables 14, 15, 17 and 19 (available on the ABS website) will change from September quarter 2009 to reflect the contemporary industrial classification (ANZSIC 2006).


CHANGES IN THIS ISSUE

This issue includes an Appendix at page 19 outlining the ANZSIC 2006 changes. A correspondence between the old (ANZSIC 1993) and new (ANZSIC 2006) classifications is available via the 'Downloads' tab assoicated with this publication on the ABS website <https://www.abs.gov.au>.


ROUNDING

Any discrepancies between totals and sums of components are due to rounding.


DATA REFERENCES

Data referenced in the Key points are available from the tables shown in this publication, or in the corresponding tables of this publication on the ABS website <https://www.abs.gov.au>.


INQUIRIES

For further information about these and related statistics, contact the National Information and Referral Service on 1300 135 070 or Lee Taylor on Canberra (02) 6252 6251.


SUMMARY COMMENTARY


COMMENTARY

Links to Other Sections

To access the "Price Indexes and Contract Price Indexation" page use this link

Price Indexes and Contract Price Indexation