Rising Dairy Prices Lift Export Prices

Export prices rose 7.1 percent in the March 2025 quarter, led by dairy prices, according to figures released by Stats NZ today.

"Export prices have been increasing since March 2024 and are now 17 percent higher than they were a year ago," international accounts spokesperson Viki Ward said.

Quarter	Terms of trade	Exports	Imports
Mar-05	1105	894	810
Jun-05	1091	899	824
Sep-05	1087	916	843
Dec-05	1060	899	848
Mar-06	1069	926	866
Jun-06	1097	1018	928
Sep-06	1073	1010	941
Dec-06	1100	973	885
Mar-07	1117	970	869
Jun-07	1122	958	854
Sep-07	1163	990	852
Dec-07	1197	1045	873
Mar-08	1247	1091	875
Jun-08	1242	1140	918
Sep-08	1230	1238	1006
Dec-08	1218	1269	1041
Mar-09	1185	1168	985
Jun-09	1074	1029	958
Sep-09	1057	973	920
Dec-09	1118	970	868
Mar-10	1186	1072	904
Jun-10	1210	1112	920
Sep-10	1246	1112	892
Dec-10	1256	1118	890
Mar-11	1266	1188	938
Jun-11	1296	1211	934
Sep-11	1288	1162	903
Dec-11	1269	1182	931
Mar-12	1240	1138	918
Jun-12	1209	1126	932
Sep-12	1170	1055	902
Dec-12	1156	1036	896
Mar-13	1205	1056	877
Jun-13	1261	1089	864
Sep-13	1355	1185	875
Dec-13	1389	1182	851
Mar-14	1414	1191	842
Jun-14	1415	1164	823
Sep-14	1351	1111	823
Dec-14	1319	1091	827
Mar-15	1336	1048	785
Jun-15	1356	1071	790
Sep-15	1304	1107	848
Dec-15	1278	1044	817
Mar-16	1331	1040	781
Jun-16	1305	1020	782
Sep-16	1289	992	770
Dec-16	1364	1041	763
Mar-17	1417	1113	785
Jun-17	1432	1138	795
Sep-17	1451	1119	772
Dec-17	1472	1180	802
Mar-18	1443	1154	800
Jun-18	1449	1183	817
Sep-18	1447	1225	847
Dec-18	1401	1203	859
Mar-19	1415	1172	829
Jun-19	1435	1210	843
Sep-19	1460	1231	844
Dec-19	1500	1269	846
Mar-20	1491	1267	850
Jun-20	1526	1297	850
Sep-20	1455	1190	818
Dec-20	1476	1185	803
Mar-21	1477	1176	796
Jun-21	1525	1273	835
Sep-21	1531	1331	869
Dec-21	1517	1368	902
Mar-22	1526	1474	966
Jun-22	1491	1529	1025
Sep-22	1433	1574	1099
Dec-22	1454	1564	1076
Mar-23	1418	1457	1028
Jun-23	1417	1448	1022
Sep-23	1409	1427	1013
Dec-23	1299	1366	1052
Mar-24	1365	1362	998
Jun-24	1397	1433	1026
Sep-24	1432	1444	1008
Dec-24	1477	1490	1009
Mar-25	1505	1596	1060

Prices for dairy products (New Zealand's top export commodity) rose 10 percent, led by a 13 percent increase in milk powder prices compared with the December 2024 quarter.

"The increase in dairy prices was shared across all of the major dairy categories," Ward said.

"Export prices for butter have also increased. Butter prices are now 38 percent higher than they were in the March 2024 quarter."

Quarter	Milk powder	Butter	Cheese
Mar-05	892	1055	859
Jun-05	913	1043	860
Sep-05	944	1078	904
Dec-05	939	1059	910
Mar-06	963	1063	903
Jun-06	1019	1073	962
Sep-06	993	987	936
Dec-06	950	883	862
Mar-07	1001	885	858
Jun-07	1056	970	847
Sep-07	1304	1068	918
Dec-07	1442	1302	1065
Mar-08	1687	1644	1268
Jun-08	1648	1676	1349
Sep-08	1753	1852	1443
Dec-08	1753	2025	1596
Mar-09	1383	1410	1328
Jun-09	1068	1048	1014
Sep-09	955	986	896
Dec-09	969	1174	883
Mar-10	1262	1733	1138
Jun-10	1329	1894	1223
Sep-10	1454	1979	1218
Dec-10	1280	1881	1140
Mar-11	1355	2060	1181
Jun-11	1439	2186	1154
Sep-11	1397	1942	1104
Dec-11	1384	1770	1194
Mar-12	1342	1573	1081
Jun-12	1305	1510	1068
Sep-12	1129	1252	984
Dec-12	1090	1246	965
Mar-13	1184	1294	1005
Jun-13	1367	1501	1050
Sep-13	1762	1875	1178
Dec-13	1750	1758	1166
Mar-14	1765	1845	1196
Jun-14	1659	1823	1187
Sep-14	1449	1569	1158
Dec-14	1162	1430	1131
Mar-15	1043	1469	1057
Jun-15	1116	1677	1052
Sep-15	1094	1569	1143
Dec-15	932	1456	1061
Mar-16	972	1617	1047
Jun-16	887	1540	994
Sep-16	874	1479	960
Dec-16	1011	1748	1016
Mar-17	1213	2149	1111
Jun-17	1212	2386	1188
Sep-17	1169	2576	1167
Dec-17	1231	2848	1246
Mar-18	1130	2679	1180
Jun-18	1209	2706	1194
Sep-18	1313	2784	1263
Dec-18	1231	2527	1267
Mar-19	1152	2264	1169
Jun-19	1275	2552	1205
Sep-19	1405	2757	1279
Dec-19	1420	2464	1301
Mar-20	1458	2381	1291
Jun-20	1493	2439	1403
Sep-20	1305	2097	1253
Dec-20	1297	1939	1192
Mar-21	1275	1928	1147
Jun-21	1484	2413	1204
Sep-21	1622	2557	1266
Dec-21	1576	2583	1275
Mar-22	1708	2913	1405
Jun-22	1929	3293	1529
Sep-22	2002	3367	1715
Dec-22	1863	3260	1778
Mar-23	1634	2986	1646
Jun-23	1576	2964	1655
Sep-23	1537	2927	1606
Dec-23	1409	2875	1544
Mar-24	1454	2952	1476
Jun-24	1569	3386	1514
Sep-24	1585	3696	1505
Dec-24	1641	3808	1570
Mar-25	1849	4076	1719

Export prices for meat products, which are New Zealand's second largest export commodity by value, rose 7.2 percent in the March 2025 quarter compared with the December 2024 quarter.

Other commodities that contribute to the increase in total export prices were forestry products (up 4.9 percent) and fruit (up 4.6 percent).

Total import prices rose 5.1 percent in the March 2025 quarter.

Category	Movement
Non-fuel crude materials	21.3
Mechanical machinery and equipment	8.9
Petroleum and products	7.9
Electrical machinery and equipment	4.5
Passenger motor cars	-1.9

The Reserve Bank's trade weighted index fell 5.3 percent in the March 2025 quarter compared with the March 2024 quarter, with the New Zealand dollar weakening against most major currencies.

"The weaker New Zealand dollar has contributed to the rise in import and export prices," Ward said.

Quarter	Milk powder
Mar-15	78
Jun-15	76
Sep-15	70
Dec-15	72
Mar-16	72
Jun-16	74
Sep-16	77
Dec-16	78
Mar-17	78
Jun-17	76
Sep-17	77
Dec-17	74
Mar-18	75
Jun-18	74
Sep-18	72
Dec-18	74
Mar-19	74
Jun-19	73
Sep-19	72
Dec-19	71
Mar-20	71
Jun-20	70
Sep-20	72
Dec-20	73
Mar-21	75
Jun-21	75
Sep-21	74
Dec-21	74
Mar-22	73
Jun-22	72
Sep-22	71
Dec-22	71
Mar-23	71
Jun-23	71
Sep-23	71
Dec-23	71
Mar-24	72
Jun-24	71
Sep-24	71
Dec-24	69
Mar-25	68

/Stats NZ Public Release. This material from the originating organization/author(s) might be of the point-in-time nature, and edited for clarity, style and length. Mirage.News does not take institutional positions or sides, and all views, positions, and conclusions expressed herein are solely those of the author(s).View in full here.

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