Preliminary estimates for March indicate that the index declined by 1.7 per cent (on a monthly average basis) in SDR terms, after declining by 3.7 per cent in February (revised). The largest contributor to the decline in March was the price of iron ore. The rural commodities subindex fell while the base metals subindex rose during the month. In Australian dollar terms, the index declined by 2.8 per cent in March. Over the past year, the index has fallen by 19.7 per cent in SDR terms, largely driven by falls in the prices of bulk commodities. The index has fallen by 15.6 per cent in Australian dollar terms over the ... (full story)