Favourable season boosts September quarter primary exports

21 December 2012

Favourable season boosts September quarter primary exports

Higher volumes of exports resulting from last year’s favourable production season have boosted primary sector revenue this past quarter.

The Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI) today released its report of production and trade statistics for the September 2012 quarter.

Primary sector export revenue at $7.12 billion for the quarter was up 4.7 percent on the previous September quarter, and at $32.43 billion for the year to September was up 0.5 percent on the previous year.

“This was despite difficult trading conditions and a stronger New Zealand dollar,” says Chris Jones, MPI’s Economic Information and Analysis Manager.

“The result was mostly driven by higher meat and dairy volumes, as exporters sought to reduce stocks generated by the bumper production season.”

Dairy export revenue was up 10.4 percent for the quarter, due to a 36 percent volume increase – largely from the 2011/12 season.

Meat export revenue increased 1.6 percent to $1.04 billion for the September quarter, however the higher volumes were moderated by lower prices for lamb, sheepmeat and venison.

Also, seafood revenue was up 4.6 percent to $385 million for the quarter, due to a 6.1 percent volume increase.

Higher export revenues from sawn timber and panel products were not enough to counter weaker revenues from other forestry products.

A look at longer term trends shows that over the decade since September 2003, the dairy industry’s contribution to total primary sector export revenue has increased from 30 percent to 43 percent in 2012.

For more information, go to the full quarterly report in the Publications section of the MPI website. (Note this is a searchable database, under Publications in the “News and Resources” section.)

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