Dairy exports continue to rise while meat falls

Milk powder, butter, and cheese exports rose 25 percent in January 2012, compared with January 2011, Statistics New Zealand said today. In contrast, meat exports fell 13 percent.

“The trend for dairy exports has increased strongly since August 2011,” industry and labour statistics manager Neil Kelly said. “However, the trend for meat exports has been falling since July 2011.”

For January 2012, export values increased $430 million (13 percent) compared with January 2011. Imports also rose, up $637 million (19 percent) due to petroleum products and large aircraft imports.

For January 2012 compared with December 2011, the seasonally adjusted value of exports fell slightly, while imports rose strongly, due to large aircraft imports.

The trade balance for the January 2012 month was a deficit of $199 million (5.3 percent of exports). If the one-off importation of large aircraft is excluded, there would have been a small trade surplus of $14 million.

From January 2012, overseas merchandise trade data is compiled using Harmonised System 2012 (HS2012). Before this, the HS2007 classification was used from January 2007.

See also:
Overseas Merchandise Trade: January 2012 – Information release