April 29, 2014 3:00pm by David Farrar

A new high for exports

Stats NZ reports:

Exports rose $671 million in the March month, to $5.1 billion. Milk powder, butter, and cheese led the rise in exports, up $474 million (45 percent) compared with March 2013.

“This is the first time monthly exports have exceeded $5 billion, and annual exports have exceeded $50 billion,” Mr Attewell said. “Record dairy exports pushed the values past these thresholds.”

Rather bad timing for Labour that one the day they release their policy aimed at fixing the export sector, exports hit an all time high. Some key stats:

Exports for the year to March 8.5% higher than a year ago
Exports for the March quarter 17.4% higher than a year ago
Trade surplus is $805 million compared to a $4.7 billion deficit in 2008/09
In last year dairy exports up 30.5%, forestry up 23.6%, textiles up 15.0%