Finance Minister Mathias Cormann says the government will take a prudent approach to how a jump in global prices for key Australian exports will be reflected in the mid-year budget update.
Official figures on Thursday showed Australia's terms of trade grew for a second quarter in a row after several years of decline in the post-mining boom era.
Senator Cormann said while it was true that global prices for key exports such as iron ore and coal had improved recently, prices were very difficult to predict.
"I don't have a crystal ball - only the future will tell what the price of iron ore and coal will be," he told Sky News on Friday.
"There's been a level of volatility... let's just see where this all settles."
Certain judgments would need to be made in relation to how sustainable recent price increases would be into the future, Senator Cormann said.
Export prices grew 3.5 per cent in the September quarter, the fastest growth in three years, building on the 1.4 per cent increase in the previous three months.
Meanwhile, import prices fell for a fourth straight quarter, the Australian Bureau of Statistics data showed.
