December trade surplus likely

By Phil Boeyen, ShareChat Business News Editor

Tuesday 29th January 2002

Provisional figures show New Zealand had a trade surplus of $26 million in December - its first December surplus for five years.

Statistics New Zealand reports that the provisional value of merchandise imports for December 2001 was $2.564 billion and the early estimate for December merchandise exports is $2.590 billion.

"This gives a merchandise trade surplus of $26 million for the month, compared with a deficit of $71 million for the December 2000 month," Statistics NZ says.

"If confirmed, this would be the first December month surplus since 1996."

For the year ended December the provisional value of imports was $31.7 billion, an increase of 3.1% on the previous year.

Import figures for the December quarter showed little change from the previous quarter ,with a fall in intermediate goods - those imported for further processing - partly offset by a rise in capital transport equipment imports.

"Crude oil values decreased due to a fall in both volumes and prices this quarter."

Detailed statistics and an updated exports total for December 2001 merchandise exports will be released in the middle of February.

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