The Australian economy has in recent years experienced the longest terms of trade boom in its history. This boom has had important macroeconomic outcomes – such as an elevated real exchange rate, large-scale investment in the resources sector and higher national income. The terms of trade have...

Iron ore and coking coal are complementary inputs for steelmaking and therefore their prices are closely related to steel prices. Historically, trade in iron ore and coking coal was based on long-term contracts, but in recent years there has been a shift towards shorter-term pricing, including...

This article summarises changes to be made to the RBA Index of Commodity Prices (ICP). In line with developments in export values over recent years, the weight of iron ore in the index will increase, while the weights for coal, gold and base metals will be reduced. Overall, these changes will...