"Twenty percent of goods exported from New Zealand went to China in the March 2013 quarter"
- Louise Holmes-Oliver , industry and labor statistics manager
New Zealand posted a more-than-expected trade surplus of NZ$718 million in March, adding to upwardly revised surplus of NZ$441 million in February, as overseas shipments surged, while imports increased less than estimated, data from Statistics New Zealand showed Friday. The reading surpassed economists' expectations of a NZ$470 million surplus. China overtook Australia as New Zealand's key export destination, with overseas sales to China rising 32% to NZ$2.31 billion in the Q1 from a year earlier, while exports to Australia declined 7.3% to NZ$2.17 billion.
"Australia is not doing nearly as well as they were compared to the rest of the world," said Nathan Penny, an economist at Westpac Banking Corp. in Auckland. "China could come out on top this year" as demand for commodities like logs and dairy picks up, he said.
"Twenty percent of goods exported from New Zealand went to China in the March 2013 quarter," industry and labor statistics manager Louise Holmes-Oliver said. "This compares with 15% in the same quarter last year."
The nation's currency gained immediately after the report was released, touching 85.29 U.S. cents from 84.98 before the data was published.
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