KEY POINTS:
Returns to commodity exporters rose 10 per cent last month, but this time it was a weaker dollar more than higher world prices which drove the increase.
The ANZ world commodity price index rose 1.4 per cent to be 36 per cent up on August last year.
The rapid fall in the value of the dollar over the month amplified that to a 10 per cent increase.
Compared with August last year New Zealand dollar prices are 20 per cent higher.
"In New Zealand dollar terms commodity prices are now within a whisker of levels last seen in 2001 when the dollar was below US45c," ANZ chief economist Cameron Bagrie said.
World prices for dairy products rose 3.1 per cent last month - but that was the smallest increase since October last year.
The momentum in milk-powder prices looked to have stalled, but butter, cheese and casein were still making gains, Bagrie said.
Seafood prices rose 2.7 per cent in August, the fourth successive monthly increase.
Beef rose 1.4 per cent, the fifth consecutive monthly rise. Wool, sawn timber and kiwifruit also improved.
But aluminium prices fell 8.1 per cent. World prices for skins, apples, lamb, venison and logs also declined.
