August Export Value Updated

August Export Value Updated

The updated value of merchandise exports for August 2003 was $2,307 million, 3.4 percent lower than August 2002, according to Statistics New Zealand. Logs, wood and wood articles, specifically logs and sawn timber, made the largest contribution to the lower export value this month.

Other contributors to the lower exports value included casein and caseinates; crude oil; fish, crustaceans and molluscs; and aluminium and aluminium articles. Partly offsetting these falls were the re-export of an aircraft, and increased export values for frozen beef, ship parts and kiwifruit.

Logs and sawn timber both contributed equally to the overall fall in the export value for logs, wood and wood articles. These falls were partly offset by higher values for plywood and particle board.

The quantity of sawn timber and logs exported also fell this month, when compared with August 2002. Over the same period, the New Zealand dollar, as measured by the trade weighted index, appreciated by 17.8 percent, which exerted a downward influence on export earnings when expressed in New Zealand dollars.

The provisional value of merchandise imports for the August 2003 month was $2,604 million, which has resulted in an updated trade deficit of $297 million.

For the year ended August 2003, the updated merchandise exports value is $28,962 million, down 9.1 percent from the August 2002 year. The trade deficit for the year ended August 2003 is $2,806 million, which is 9.7 percent of the export value.

Brian Pink

Government Statistician

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