Export values fall despite higher meat and dairy quantities

Export values fall despite higher meat and dairy quantities

26 February 2015

Total goods exports were down $371 million (9.1 percent) to $3.7 billion in January 2015 compared with January 2014, Statistics New Zealand said today.

Milk powder, butter, and cheese exports drove the fall, down 30 percent, led by lower prices. The quantity of dairy products exported rose 2.9 percent, led by cheese and butter, however the quantity of milk powder exported fell 3.1 percent.

“Lower milk powder prices in the last five months, compared with the same months a year earlier, are the main reason exports have been falling,” international statistics manager Jason Attewell said. “Although export values fell, we saw record quantities of dairy and meat exports for a January month.”

A 20 percent rise in meat exports partly offset the fall in monthly exports, led by frozen beef, up 53 percent.

Imports fell $142 million (3.8 percent), to $3.6 billion. The fall was led by intermediate goods (such as crude oil and automotive diesel), down 9.8 percent. The monthly trade balance for January was a surplus of $56 million (1.5 percent of exports).

Seasonally adjusted exports rose 2.7 percent in January 2015, led by increases in fruit and wine exports, compared with December 2014. Seasonally adjusted imports fell 8.5 percent.

For more information about these statistics:

• Visit Overseas Merchandise Trade: January 2015

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