NZ terms of trade lift 3% in September quarter

Friday 10th December 2010

Falling fuel prices helped lift New Zealand's terms of trade 3% in the September quarter.

This means that 3% more imported goods could be funded by a fixed quantity of exported goods than in the June quarter.

Export prices edged down 0.1%, after rises of 3.7% and 10.5% in the June and March quarters respectively, Statistics New Zealand (SNZ) said today.

Prices for forestry product exports were down 4.1% in the latest period, with fruit down 8.2%, petroleum and petroleum products down 4.1%, while dairy products rose 7.1%.

Import prices fell 3% in the September quarter, compared to rises of 1.7% in the June quarter and 4.2% in the March quarter.

Petroleum and petroleum import prices fell 7%, mechanical machinery prices were down 2.8%, and food and beverages fell 3.2%.

Seasonally adjusted import volumes rose 3.7% in the September quarter, the fifth consecutive quarterly rise, SNZ said.

Import volumes remained 10% below the peak in the June 2008 quarter, but had recovered to levels last seen in late 2008.

Capital goods were the main contributor to the import volumes rise.

Seasonally adjusted export volumes fell 2.9% in the September quarter, with meat, dairy, and forestry products the major contributors to the fall. Meat volumes were at their lowest level since the September 2002 quarter.

NZPA

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