- Jason Attewell, International statistics manager
New Zealand trade deficit narrowed more than expected in November, as falling dairy prices were offset by an increase in meat exports. The nation's trade gap shrank to $213 million last month, compared with the revised $911 million deficit in October, according to Statistics New Zealand. The November's trade deficit was the smallest since 2010, while economists had predicted a $500 million gap between import and export takings. Exports climbed 0.7% on a monthly basis, but plunged 9.5% compared with the 2013 levels at $4.02 billion the same month last year. This was largely due to a 27% dive in dairy exports, with quantities falling 3.1%. In November 2013 New Zealand exported a record value of dairy products to China, and continued to benefit from strong terms of trade in the first half of 2014 as demand for dairy products and logs in China boosted exports, while a historically strong New Zealand Dollar has pushed down the import costs. However, dairy prices have nearly halved since the beginning of the year, as an oversupply in China resulted in a weak demand and higher prices, easing the nation's trade outlook, as well as weighing on the Kiwi. However, a 20% advance in meat exports offset drops in dairy exports in November, with frozen beef fetching much higher prices. Imports declined 13.7% on month and dropped 1.3% from the previous year to $4.24 billion in November. This was due to a 7.9% fall in capital goods imports due to purchases of aircrafts from Europe last November.
© Dukascopy Bank SA