Commerce Commission files proceedings against Westpac
The Commerce Commission has announced that it has filed proceedings against Westpac New Zealand.
Demand for New Zealand dairy products should remain solid despite China’s mixed economic outlook, says Imre Speizer, Westpac.
He says China’s dominance as an export destination, particularly for whole milk powder, has been evident in official monthly trade data for some time.
Stats NZ figures for August confirm the trend of rising dairy export volumes since 2016, with China now importing about as much as it did at the previous peak in 2013.
Speizer says while the outlook for China’s economy is mixed, consumers are still buying dairy products.
“The outlook for China’s economy is mixed: over the remainder of 2019 we expect the pace of activity to slow further, but over the long term its various stimulatory initiatives should prove supportive.
“Against this backdrop, consumer activity has held up well, China so far successfully engineering a rebalancing of the economy towards domestic consumption.”
Last week’s Global Dairy Trade (GDT) auction also reflected increase demand from China.
The GDT auction resulted in little change to prices overall: the price index rose 0.2%. The key export product, whole milk powder, fell 0.2%.
But Speizer notes that the multi-month trend in whole milk powder prices remains positive, with a total gain of 5.8% since bottoming in July.
Prices overall have been fairly stable since June, the headline index now sitting at the three-year average. Whole milk powder at $3141 is slightly above the three-year average of $3060.
Westpac is maintaining its payout forecast at $6.50/kgMS. Fonterra’s payout price range remains unchanged at $6.25-$7.25/kgMS.
Futures markets for the milk payout are now pricing $6.85, up from $6.75 last month ago but about the middle of the $6.65-$6.95 range prevailing since June.
Alliance has announced a series of capital raise roadshow event, starting on 29 September in Tuatapere, Southland.
State farmer Pāmu (Landcorp) has announced a new equity partnership in an effort to support pathways to farm ownership for livestock farm operators.
Following a recent overweight incursion that saw a Mid-Canterbury contractor cop a $12,150 fine, the rural contracting industry is calling time on what they consider to be outdated and unworkable regulations regarding weight and dimensions that they say are impeding their businesses.
Trade Minister Todd McClay says his officials plan to meet their US counterparts every month from now on to better understand how the 15% tariff issue there will play out, and try and get some certainty there for our exporters about the future.
Brett Wotton, an Eastern Bay of Plenty kiwifruit grower and harvest contractor, has won the 2025 Kiwifruit Innovation Award for his work to support lifting fruit quality across the industry.