Galloping milk powder exports were a key driver behind the New Zealand trade surplus topping $500 million for the month of December, Statistics New Zealand said.
Economists had been expecting a big positive figure, and a $500 million surplus figure had in fact been the average pick among economists.
The strong performance of milk powder exports, particularly to China, saw the December quarter trade surplus (this figure is seasonally-adjusted) go past the $1 billion mark (to $1.1 billion - 8% of exports). This is the first time the quarterly surplus has hit $1 billion for the first time since Statistics NZ has been recording the figures.
Statistics NZ said for the December 2013 month, export values increased $658 million (16%) compared with December 2012. Imports increased $669 million (19%).
For the December 2013 quarter, seasonally adjusted exports rose 10% (to $13.4 billion), and seasonally adjusted imports fell 2.8% (to $12.3 billion) from the September 2013 quarter.
In terms of the figures for the full year to December (actual, not seasonally-adjusted), Stats NZ reiterated that milk powder exports, particularly to China, dominated the total goods exported.
This led to many new record highs, such as export values for the month, quarter, and year for the grouping milk powder, butter, and cheese.
"For 2013, the value of goods we exported rose by $2 billion – to reach $48.1 billion – and most of this increase was from milk powder," Stats NZ's industry and labour statistics manager Louise Holmes-Oliver said.
"Almost half of our milk powder exports went to China."
Goods exported to China in the year ended December 2013 were valued at $10 billion, of which $4 billion was milk powder. This is the highest-ever value of milk powder exported to China for any year.
"China became our top annual export destination in 2013, a spot Australia had held since the year ended September 1989," Holmes-Oliver said.
"For imports, China’s been our main partner since December 2011."
Imports for the December 2013 year were up $1.1 billion, to $48.3 billion.
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