Global trade war 'bad news for NZ'
A global trade war beckons, which is bad news for a small open economy like New Zealand, warns Mark Smith ASB senior economist.
Key Results:
AMF index up 4.7%, average price US$3,797/MT
Butter index up 6.6%, average price US$2,871/MT
BMP index up 7.7%, average price US$1,661/MT
Ched index down 0.8%, average price US$2,889/MT
LAC index up 3.7%, average price US$741/MT
RenCas index up 16.3%, average price US$6,161/MT
SMP index up 2.1%, average price US$1,965/MT
WMP index up 9.9%, average price US$2,265/MT
ASB rural economist Nathan Penny says the overall result was stronger than their expectations heading in; they expected WMP prices to lift by between 5% and 7%.
The bounce was also broad-based. On top of the WMP increase, casein prices surged 16%, while butter and BMP rose 7% and 8%, respectively. Only cheddar prices recorded a fall.
"From here, we expect rapidly tightening global supply to lift prices further over 2016," he says.
