KEY POINTS:
The sharpest quarterly rise in import prices in nearly quarter of a century, partly due to a steep increases in crude oil, saw New Zealand's terms of trade drop 2.3 per cent in the September quarter.
Import prices rose 11.1 per cent in the quarter, the largest quarterly increase since 1984, while export prices increased 8.6 per cent, the fastest rate in two years, figures published today by Statistics New Zealand (SNZ) show.
The price of petroleum and petroleum product imports rose 31 per cent in the quarter, the fastest rate in 18 years, while the depreciation of the New Zealand dollar also made a significant contribution to the increase in total import prices, SNZ said.
The depreciating currency was also significant in the rise in export prices, with a 7.4 per cent increase in dairy product export prices and an 11.5 per cent rise in meat prices among other key factors.
The fall in the terms of trade means 2.3 per cent fewer imports could be funded by a fixed quantity of exports than in the June quarter.
While the latest drop follows an earlier decrease of 0.4 per cent in the June quarter, the terms of trade had risen for six consecutive quarters before that. For the year to September the terms of trade were up 4.4 per cent, and are 20.9 per cent higher than five years ago, SNZ said.
The annual rise in the price of petroleum and petroleum product imports was 79.9 per cent. When the category is removed from the import price index for the September quarter the rise in import prices is 7.4 per cent.
Another significant contributor to the rise in import prices were crude and manufactured fertilisers, which rose 67 per cent in the September quarter, the largest quarterly increase since the series began in 1982. For the year the category rose 164.9 per cent, also the largest since the series started.
Export volumes fell 2.3 per cent on a seasonally adjusted basis, with dairy products down 4.3 per cent, the third consecutive quarterly fall, taking them to the lowest volume level in four years.
Petroleum and products export volumes were down 9.6 per cent in the quarter, while rises were recorded in forestry and fruits, up 3.2 per cent and 4.1 per cent respectively.
Import volumes fell a seasonally adjusted 5 per cent in the September quarter, coming of an all time high in the June quarter.
They were led down by an 18.2 per cent fall in capital goods import volumes, following a 38.2 per cent rise in the June quarter when an oil rig and floating platform with a combined value of $477 million were imported, SNZ said.
- NZPA
