New Zealand posted a merchandise trade surplus of NZ$920 million in March, Statistics New Zealand said on Tuesday – marking the highest surplus on record for that month.
The headline figure beat forecasts for a surplus of NZ$900 million following the downwardly revised NZ$793 million surplus in February (originally NZ$818 million).
Exports were up NZ$671 million or 15.0 percent on year to NZ$5.08 billion – exceeding expectations for NZ$5.0 billion and up from the downwardly revised NZ$4.53 billion in the previous month (originally NZ$4.6 billion).
Milk powder, butter, and cheese led the rise in exports, up NZ$474 million (45 percent) compared with March 2013.
“This is the first time monthly exports have exceeded $5 billion, and annual exports have exceeded $50 billion,” international statistics manager Jason Attewell said. “Record dairy exports pushed the values past these thresholds.”
Imports climbed an annual 13.0 percent or NZ$483 million to NZ$4.16 billion versus forecasts for NZ$4.1 billion and up from NZ$3.74 billion a month earlier.
For the first quarter of 2014, the seasonally adjusted value of exported goods rose 2.1 percent to NZ$13.6 billion.
“Meat and fruit led the increase in seasonally adjusted exports,” Attewell said. “This is the second consecutive quarter that both values and quantities for these two commodities have risen.”
Seasonally adjusted meat values rose 8.7 percent in the March quarter, and quantities rose 6.8 percent. Fruit values rose 27 percent, and quantities rose 20 percent.
The rise in meat and fruit was offset slightly by a fall in milk powder, butter, and cheese, down 2.4 percent. The fall in dairy follows 26 percent increases in both the September and December 2013 quarters. Despite the small fall this quarter, dairy remains at high levels and is the leading contributor (31 percent) to total exports.
Imports rose 1.5 percent to NZ$12.5 billion in the first quarter. The increase was led by a rise in capital goods.
The seasonally adjusted trade balance for Q1 was a surplus of $1.1 billion, following a surplus of NZ$986 million in the December 2013 quarter.
Published: 2014-04-29 01:16:00 UTC+00
New Zealand Trade Surplus NZ$920 Million In March
No comments:
Post a Comment