International Trade Price Indexes, Australia

The main contributors to the rise were:

• Metalliferous ores and metal scrap (+25.5%), driven by the increase in demand for iron ore from China.
• Coal, coke and briquettes (+25.2%), driven by surging global demand for thermal and coking coals.
• Gas, natural and manufactured (+3.5%), due to the rise in oil-linked contracts capturing the continued oil price rises in late 2021.
• Petroleum, petroleum products and related materials (+27.4%), driven by strong global oil demand and supply constraints.
• Gold, non-monetary (+4.8%), through increased demand for the safe-haven commodity due to growing international inflationary pressures and economic uncertainty surrounding the Russia-Ukraine conflict.

Through the year, the Export Price Index rose 42.6%. The main contributors were:

• Coal, coke and briquettes (+225.6%), and
• Gas, natural and manufactured (+125.1%).

The main contributors to the rise were:

• Petroleum, petroleum products and related materials (+20.4%), driven by strong global oil demand and supply constraints.
• Fertilisers (excluding crude) (+32.1%), due to rising energy costs of production and strong global demand, particularly for urea.
• Electrical machinery apparatus (+4.5%), driven by rising production costs.
• Articles of apparel and clothing (+4.7%), driven by higher material costs and costs of manufacturing.

• Coffee, tea and cocoa (+20.1%), driven by higher costs of production, including fertilisers costs.

Through the year, the Import Price Index rose 19.3%. The main contributor was:

• Petroleum, petroleum products and related materials (+70.7%).

Import Price Index

Export Price Index

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Price indexes published by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) provide summary measures of the movements in various categories of prices over time. They are published primarily for use in Government economic analysis. Price indexes are also often used in contracts by businesses and government to adjust payments and/or charges to take account of changes in categories of prices (Indexation Clauses).

Use of Price Indexes in Contracts sets out a range of issues that should be taken into account by parties considering including an Indexation Clause in a contract using an ABS published price index.

This release previously used catalogue number 6457.0.

28/07/2022 – This release contains:

Data revisions to indexes containing Coal, coke and briquettes and Liquified Natural Gas (LNG) data, with revised figures included in Time series spreadsheets (Tables 7, 9, 10, 11, 18, 19) and Data cubes (Tables 8, 17). As noted in the National Accounts March quarter publication, significant differences between the Export Price Index (EPI) and Implicit Price Deflators (IPDs) for Coal (Coal, coke & briquettes) and LNG (Other mineral fuels), led to the ABS undertaking further investigation into the prices for these commodities. As a result of these investigations the indexes for these commodities have been updated for the March quarter.

Correction to ‘Fertilisers (excluding crude)’ dot point in Import price index main contributors.