By BRIAN FALLOW
World prices for New Zealand's commodity exports rose again last month, and for the second month in a row the gains were not wiped out by a higher dollar.
ANZ's world commodity price index rose 2 per cent, led by gains in beef, sawn timber, dairy and lamb prices.
ANZ economist John Bolsover said the dollar had resumed its upward path after a brief drop in August, but was largely unchanged on a month-average basis in September, so that in New Zealand dollar terms commodity prices were up 1.8 per cent, following a 1.1 per cent rise in August.
But those two monthly increases are swamped by consecutive falls in the preceding nine months, so that in NZ dollar terms, commodity prices are 10.7 per cent lower than a year ago, even though they are 9.4 per cent up in world price terms.
Bolsover said it appeared world prices for NZ commodity exports had resumed their upward trend.
The largest gain last month was in beef prices, up 7.6 per cent.
But although the underlying tone of the US beef market is improving, New Zealand has filled 88 per cent of its annual quota.
Lamb prices rose 1.1 per cent, and are at their highest in the 18-year history of the index, apart from a four-month period in late 1996 and early 1997 when they spiked after Britain's mad cow disease scare.
Dairy prices rose 2.5 per cent, and sawn timber prices 3.6 per cent.
Commodity price gain beats the dollar
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