Growing China demand helps soften New Zealand trade deficit

Rising demand for meat and dairy products in China helped slow a rising New Zealand goods trade deficit last month, the government statistics agency said Wednesday.

Total goods exported rose 40 million NZ dollars (27.27 million U.S. dollars), or 1 percent, year on year in November, led by meat and fruit, according to Statistics New Zealand.

Milk powder, butter, and cheese exports fell 3.3 percent to 1.2 billion NZ dollars (818.04 million U.S. dollars).

Exports to China, New Zealand's biggest export destination, rose 117 million NZ dollars (79.76 million U.S. dollars), or 17 percent, and exports to Australia, New Zealand's other major market, fell 31 million NZ dollars (21.13 million U.S. dollars) or 4.1 percent.

The quantity of milk powder, butter, and cheese exported to China rose by 45 percent, and meat exports were also up, led by beef, said a commentary from the agency.

The rise in exports to China was partly offset by a fall in logs and wool.

The value of total goods imported to New Zealand was 4.9 billion NZ dollars (3.34 billion U.S. dollars) in November, up 12 percent year on year.

"During 2015, the lower New Zealand dollar has pushed up the price of imported goods," international statistics senior manager Jason Attewell said in a statement.

"A recent fall in the world crude oil price has more than offset the lower New Zealand dollar for petroleum imports."

The trade deficit widened in November to 779 million NZ dollars (531.04 million U.S. dollars), compared with a deficit of 283 million NZ dollars (192.92 million U.S. dollars) in November 2014. Endit