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:
ends