KiwiBrothersTM make their China debut
Zespri has unveiled the award-winning KiwiBrothersTM mascots in China for the first time to market its large kiwifruit crop.
The value of goods exports to Australia ($8.7 billion) surpassed those to China for the year ended March 2015, says Statistics New Zealand.
This is the first time Australia has been our top export destination since the year ended November 2013, says international statistics manager Jason Attewell.
For the past five months, exports to China and Australia have both fallen, compared with the same month in the previous year. Falls in exports to China were larger than the falls to Australia.
Total goods exports fell $103 million (2.0 percent), down to $4.9 billion in March 2015 compared with March 2014. Exports to China fell $324 million (29 percent), due to whole milk powder. Exports to Australia fell $26 million.
Goods imports rose $169 million (4.1 percent), to reach $4.3 billion in March 2015. Consumption goods (including clothing) led the rise (up 19 percent).
In March 2015, the trade surplus of $631 million was down from the $904 million surplus in March 2014.
Excluding the re-export of a drilling platform to Singapore in March 2015, the trade surplus was $432 million.
For the year ended March 2015, there was an annual trade deficit of $2.4 billion (4.9 percent of exports).
This was the largest annual trade deficit since the year ended July 2009.
In the March 2015 quarter, the seasonally adjusted value of exported goods fell 0.6 percent ($70 million), down to $12 billion, compared with the December 2014 quarter. Imports fell 3.3 percent, to $13 billion.
The seasonally adjusted trade balance for the March 2015 quarter was a deficit of $490 million (4.0 percent of exports). Excluding one-off imports, the deficit in the December quarter was $623 million.
Federated Farmers is throwing its support behind the Fast-track Approvals Bill introduced by the Coalition Government to enable a fast-track decision-making process for infrastructure and development projects.
The latest report from ANZ isn’t good news for sheep farmers: lamb returns are forecast to remain low.
Divine table grapes that herald the start of a brand-new industry in Hawke’s Bay have been coming off vines in Maraekakaho.
In what appears to be a casualty of the downturn in the agricultural sector, a well-known machinery brand is now in the hands of liquidators and owing creditors $6.6 million.
One of New Zealand’s deepest breeder Jersey herds – known for its enduring connection through cattle with the UK’s longest reigning monarch, Queen Elizabeth II – will host its 75th anniversary celebration sale on-farm on April 22.
Rural trader PGG Wrightson has revised its operating earnings guidance, saying trading conditions have deteriorated since the last market update in February.