Exports Trend Growth Confirmed

Overseas Merchandise Trade (Exports): September 2001

Exports Trend Growth Confirmed

The provisional value of merchandise exports for September 2001 is $2,635 million, according to figures released today by Statistics New Zealand. This value is 0.6 per cent less than the early estimate published on 26 October 2001. Both the monthly and quarterly export trends continue to show growth despite a fall in the quarterly seasonally adjusted series.

The monthly trend in the trade balance has been rising for the past five months, due to the exports trend steadily rising while the imports trend has been falling for the past two months.

The seasonally adjusted value of merchandise exports for the September 2001 quarter is 2.5 per cent lower than for the June 2001 quarter, which showed an increase of 6.1 per cent. This compares with a decrease of 1.0 per cent for seasonally adjusted imports for the September 2001 quarter.

The value of seasonally adjusted exports of meat and edible offal is 11.6 per cent lower in the September 2001 quarter than the June 2001 quarter, with the quantity decreasing by 10.7 per cent. The seasonally adjusted exports value of milk powder, butter and cheese is 3.6 per cent lower in the September 2001 quarter than the June 2001 quarter, with the quantity decreasing 2.8 per cent. The seasonally adjusted value of fish, crustaceans and molluscs also fell in the September 2001 quarter.

Partly offsetting these falls were rises in the seasonally adjusted value of exports of casein and caseinates; and machinery and equipment in the September 2001 quarter.

Imports for the September 2001 month are valued at $2,703 million, which gives a trade deficit of $68 million, 2.6 per cent of exports. Monthly deficits in excess of 2.6 per cent of exports have occurred in nine of the 10 previous September months.

For the year ended September 2001, the merchandise exports value is $32,813 million, an increase of 20.5 per cent from the previous September year. The merchandise trade balance for the September 2001 year is a surplus of $857 million, the highest annual merchandise trade surplus in nominal terms since the $966 million surplus of the October 1994 year.

Brian Pink Government Statistician END

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