SEPTEMBER KEY FIGURES

	Jun Qtr 09 to Sep Qtr 09	Sep Qtr 08 to Sep Qtr 09
	% change	% change
Import Price Index all groups	-3.0	-2.3
Food and live animals	-6.3	4.2
Beverages and tobacco	-0.1	6.0
Crude materials, inedible, except fuels	-1.8	-27.6
Mineral fuels, lubricants and related materials	15.1	-38.3
Animal and vegetable oils, fats and waxes	-13.9	-14.4
Chemicals and related products, n.e.c.	-3.9	-4.4
Manufactured goods classified chiefly by material	-4.3	4.1
Machinery and transport equipment	-5.8	8.9
Miscellaneous manufactured articles	-6.9	11.3
Commodities and transactions, n.e.c.	-4.9	18.4
Export Price Index all groups	-9.6	-20.7
Food and live animals	-2.0	-10.5
Beverages and tobacco	-8.6	-5.7
Crude materials, inedible, except fuels	-10.4	-27.7
Mineral fuels, lubricants and related materials	-21.8	-35.3
Chemicals and related products, n.e.c.	-4.0	-2.0
Manufactured goods classified chiefly by material	8.7	-23.8
Machinery and transport equipment	-5.6	3.3
Miscellaneous manufactured articles	-2.6	1.4

IMPORT PRICE INDEX: all groups, Quarterly % change

EXPORT PRICE INDEX: all groups, Quarterly % change

SEPTEMBER KEY POINTS


IMPORT PRICE INDEX

• The Import Price Index decreased by 3.0% in the September quarter 2009. The decrease was driven mainly by the appreciation of the Australian dollar against all major trading currencies, as well as lower prices paid for general industrial machinery and equipment, n.e.c. and machine parts, n.e.c. (-7.4%). These falls were partly offset by rises in prices paid for petroleum, petroleum products and related materials (+15.1%). Through the year to September quarter 2009, the Import Price Index decreased by 2.3%.

EXPORT PRICE INDEX

• The Export Price Index decreased by 9.6% in the September quarter 2009. The decrease was driven mainly by falls in prices received for coal, coke and briquettes (-34.2%) and metalliferous ores and metal scrap (-12.1%), as well as the appreciation of the Australian dollar against all major trading currencies. These falls were partly offset by rises in prices received for non-ferrous metals (+16.1%) and petroleum, petroleum products and related materials (+5.4%). Through the year to September quarter 2009, the Export Price Index decreased by 20.7%, the largest annual decrease since the current series began in September quarter 1974.

NOTES

FORTHCOMING ISSUES

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

CHANGES IN THIS ISSUE

When prices of export commodities are volatile, the export price index in this publication and the export implicit price deflator in the national accounts and the balance of payments can diverge significantly. An explanation of the difference between these two measures is outlined in paragraph 17 of the Explanatory Notes.

Both the Import Price Index and the Export Price Index have been reweighted in the September quarter 2009. This is in line with the ABS policy of reweighting these indexes annually in the September quarter, as explained in paragraphs 8-10 of the Explanatory Notes. The new weighting patterns are provided in an Appendix to this issue.

As a consequence of the annual reweighting, the points contribution data for June quarter 2009 shown in Tables 2, 8 and 17 differ from that published in the previous issue of this publication.

As foreshadowed in the June quarter 2009 issue, the content and format of Tables 14, 15, 17 and 19 (available on the ABS website <https://www.abs.gov.au>) have changed from September quarter 2009 to reflect the contemporary industrial classification (ANZSIC 2006). Further information can be found in the Appendix to the March quarter 2009 issue of this publication, as well as in Information Paper: Update on ANZSIC 2006 Implementation for Producer and International Trade Price Indexes, Australia, 2009 (cat. no. 6427.0.55.002).


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

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