October trade deficit goes from bad to worse

11.55am


New Zealand's worst ever October month trade deficit got even worse today as Statistics New Zealand (SNZ) revised it to $715 million from the previously reported $701 million preliminary figure.

The updated figure brings the year to date trade deficit to $3.25 billion from the previously reported $3.22 billion.

Government statistician Brian Pink said the revised figure confirmed the October month trade deficit was the highest ever recorded for an October month as a percentage of exports (31 per cent) since 1989.

The value of merchandise exports during October of $2.31 billion was 6.6 per cent lower than the same month last year, SNZ said in a statement.

October was the third consecutive month that logs, wood and wood articles have featured as the largest contributor to lower export values when comparing the same months with the previous year.

The quantity of logs exported during October this year was down 37.8 per cent and the quantity of sawn timber was down 16.8 per cent when compared with October 2002.

Lower export values were recorded for petroleum and petroleum products, wool, fish, crustaceans and molluscs and caseinates.

A rise in the value of iron and steel exports partially offset these falls.

The value of merchandise imports during October was $3.02 billion.

The updated value of merchandise exports for the year ended October 2003 was $28.55 billion, down 9.1 per cent on the previous October year. This resulted in the annual trade deficit of $3.25 billion for the year ended October 2003, which is 11.4 per cent of exports.

SNZ said the underlying trend for the value of merchandise exports had declined 14.4 per cent since March 2002. Over the same period the New Zealand dollar had appreciated 16.9 per cent, exerting downward pressure on export prices.

- NZPA