Fonterra says it has broken its own record for the highest export month, helping to boost New Zealand's economy by $1.3 billion last month.
The dairy giant said it loaded 246,000 tonnes of dairy products onto ships during December, overtaking the previous record of 229,000 tonnes of product recorded last March.
Fonterra's exports now account for more than a quarter all New Zealand exports.
Fonterra's managing director of trade and operations Gary Romano said a good autumn and mild winter had created optimal grass growing conditions ahead of the 2011/12 dairy season.
"This helped create a wave of milk up about 10 per cent on a daily basis during the peak flow in late September through to November."
