Friday, March 29, 2024

Imports and exports slide

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New Zealand’s monthly trade deficit was little changed in December from the year-earlier month as imports and exports both slid by about the same amount.
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The country had a $41 million trade deficit in December 2016, compared with a $42m deficit in December 2015, Statistics New Zealand said. The deficit is less than the $98 million anticipated by economists, according to a consensus forecast. The value of New Zealand's exports in December shrank by $41m, or 0.9%, to $4.38 billion, while imports reduced by $42m, or 0.9%, to $4.42b.

The decline in exports was led by a $93m fall in the value of meat and edible offal exports, the country's second-largest export commodity group. Beef exports slid by $47m, or 17%, while the quantity reduced by 12%. Lamb exports also dropped $47m, or 17%, with the quantity down 18%.

Bucking the trend, exports of milk powder, butter and cheese, the largest commodity export group, advanced $109m, or 8%, to $1.47b. Milk powder exports rose $60m, or 7%, to $857m even as the quantity exported declined 4.7%.

Wood exports, the third-largest commodity group, were little changed in the month, down 1% to $347m, while exports of fruit, the fourth-largest group, jumped 51% to $49m.

Meanwhile, the slide in imports was led by a 2.5% fall in the value of intermediate goods. Imports of processed industrial supplies such as palm oil cake, plastics and fertilisers declined by $75m, or 8.6%, offset by a $58% lift in the value of processed fuels such as automotive diesel and jet fuel.

The statistics agency noted that Wellington's CentrePort had been affected by the November 14 Kaikoura earthquake and is only partially operational. The value of exports through CentrePoint dropped 90% in December, compared with the year-earlier month. Exports through CentrePort accounted for 0.4% of the total value of the country's exports by sea, compared to an average 2.7% for the five previous December months, it said. The value of imports through CentrePort was down 40% from the same month in 2015 and it accounted for 3% of the total value of imports by sea, lagging its 6.1% average for the previous five December months.

On an annual basis, exports declined 1.1% to $48.4b in the 2016 year, compared with 2015, while imports slid 1.7% to $51.6b. The annual trade deficit was $3.2b or 6.6% of exports.

© BusinessDesk

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