Six dead babies - that's what it took to create a whole new market segment for New Zealand's dairy industry.

Justice Minister Judith Collins said she told milk product company Oravida that it could not use her photograph or name to endorse its products prior to visiting it in China.

New Zealand commodity prices rose to a record in February, as cheese prices surged to a six-year high.

New Zealand's terms of trade rose to a 40-year high for the second straight quarter in the final three months of 2013 as import prices fell.

Surging dairy exports to China have pushed the annual trade balance into surplus for the first time in nearly two years.

Infant formula exporters are on edge before an audit of local manufacturing facilities by Chinese officials next month.

Strong demand for New Zealand's main commodity exports has prompted the Ministry for Primary Industry to revise up its revenue forecast by $4.9 billion to $36.5 billion.

Forecasts for exports of dairy products, meat and forestry have been raised by the Ministry for Primary Industries citing growing demand and limited supplies.

Dairy product prices recorded their biggest drop since early November in the latest global auction, with the volume sold falling to an eight-month low.

Imagine you own a business. Would you be happy selling 46 per cent of your top product to just one buyer? That is how New Zealand sells its milk powder to China.

Westpac has revised up its NZ growth forecast for 2014 to 4.2% and expects the Kiwi dollar to remain high against the US and Aussie dollars.

Australian supermarkets are dropping New Zealand-made products even if an alternative cannot be sourced locally, producers say, as concerns increase about whether the patriotic shut-out on foreign goods could expand to more product lines.

NZ Trade Ministry spokesman says access for agricultural products to customs union is key sticking point.

News that China may have become the world's largest trading nation had an air of inevitability about it, writes Stephen Jacobi. Yet even as we learn to ride the Chinese wave, we need to keep our options open.

Ports of Auckland has notched up its best two months and an analyst says it has seized container volume share back from Port of Tauranga.

Govt defends decision to award $8m ferry contract to a Bangladesh firm

Herald business editor Liam Dann says the new Fonterra recall needs to be kept in perspective - but the world is watching the dairy giant much more closely now.

The export of logs to China is driving an increase in the value of NZ's forestry products - now worth more than $4.5 billion a year.

New Zealand's iron sand exports could soar to almost 10 million tonnes a year by 2016, as Australia's BlueScope Steel adds shipping capacity at its Taharoa site and Trans-Tasman Resources remains hopeful of approval for its offshore mining venture.