NZ June trade balance
Trade balance, -60 m .......... deficit instead of the expected surplus ... the first deficit for a June month since 2009
- expected 100m, prior was 350m
Exports, 4.23 bn, better than expected
- expected 4.05bn, prior was 4.36bn
Imports, 4.29 bn
- expected 4.00bn, prior was 4.01bn
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Summary (of the StatsNZ release):
Exports ...
- Goods exports to China rose $20 million from June 2014
- "When we compare the same months a year apart, this is the first monthly increase in exports to China since August 2014," international statistics manager Jason Attewell said. "However, whole milk powder to China continued its recent falls, and was down $92 million."
- Between September 2014 and May 2015, exports to China fell an average of $373 million a month when compared with the same month in the previous year. Exports to Australia, our largest export partner (annually), fell an average of $43 million a month over that time.
- Overall goods exports rose 1.3 percent ($56 million) in June 2015, despite milk powder, butter, and cheese exports being down $320 million. Logs (up $112 million), meat (up $89 million), and fruit (up $87 million) led the rise.
Imports ...
- Monthly imports rose 9.0 percent ($355 million) compared with June 2014. This was despite the import of large aircraft in June last year and no similar imports this June. The rise was across a range of commodities, including consumption goods from China (such as clothing) and machinery and plant from China (such as mobile phones).
More:
- The annual trade deficit increased from May, to $2.8 billion in June ... widest in 6 years
- Seasonally adjusted quarterly goods exports rose 0.4 percent ($49 million) from the March 2015 quarter, to $12.2 billion in the June 2015 quarter. Fruit exports rose, while milk powder, butter, and cheese fell. Quarterly goods imports also rose 0.4 percent ($45 million), to $12.6 billion. Capital goods imports rose while intermediate and consumption goods fell.
- The seasonally adjusted quarterly trade deficit was $460 million. This is the fifth consecutive quarterly trade deficit. The last surplus was in the March 2014 quarter.
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NZD was up from its session lows (not by much) in the minutes ahead of the release after a decent fall overnight. The details of the release are not too bad, some positive signs in there.