NZ: October Trade Deficit eased back to $1.01 billion – ANZ

Susan Kilsby, agriculture economist at ANZ, points out that for the New Zealand economy, October delivered an unadjusted monthly trade deficit of $1.01bn, which was slightly larger than expected. 

Key Quotes

“On an unadjusted basis, export returns were up 4.3% y/y in October while imports were down 1.4%.”

“Dairy export returns were strong, up 1.8% m/m on a seasonally adjusted (sa) basis, reflecting stronger prices as dairy export volumes were unchanged on a seasonally adjusted basis.”

“Trade with Asia continues to grow with the value of exports to this region increasing 10.1% over the past year. This has primarily been due to a 19.8% increase in the value of exports to China which were worth $16.1bn in the 12 months to October.”

“The value of goods imported in October actually decreased by 2.5% on a seasonally adjusted basis.”

“Looking forward, export volumes for November will be bolstered by the normal seasonal increase in dairy production, although the volume of milk produced in October was 0.5% down y/y. Meat export volumes will be tempered by low throughput by processors at present. While import volumes may see a seasonal boost.”