Meat products lift exports in December quarter

Led by a rise in meat products, seasonally adjusted exports rose 3.1 percent to $11.1 billion in the December 2010 quarter, Statistics New Zealand said today.

“The value of meat and edible offal exports rose 26 percent for the quarter, with quantities 19 percent higher,” overseas trade manager Neil Kelly said. “Values and quantities were also up significantly for logs and wood products.”

The total value of goods imported, after adjusting for seasonal effects, increased 4.2 percent to $10.9 billion in the December 2010 quarter, led by a 15 percent increase in capital goods. If a large one-off capital import is excluded, the increase for the December 2010 quarter would be 2.0 percent.   

The seasonally adjusted trade balance for the December 2010 quarter was a surplus of $275 million (2.5 percent of exports), the fifth consecutive quarterly surplus.

In the month of December 2010 the unadjusted value of New Zealand’s exported goods rose by $390 million (11 percent) to 3.8 billion compared with December 2009. The value of imported goods increased $614 million (18 percent) to $4.1 billion over the same period.

The trade balance for the December 2010 month was a deficit of $250 million (6.6 percent of exports).

 

Geoff Bascand 31 January 2011

Government Statistician