World dairy prices have surged to the highest since June 2011 with the prospect of New Zealand production curtailed by drought.

The Port of Tauranga says a decision allowing it to make way for super-sized containerships has ended a near four-year battle with iwi.

Commodity prices rose in February but the strength of the local currency meant they were flat in kiwi dollar terms.

Talks between the EU and the US on a free trade deal, joining the world's two largest trading blocs, are scheduled to start in the summer.

Looks like details of the long-awaited Mighty River Power float are set to be released on Monday with the Government raring to go after receiving the all clear from the Supreme Court.

Prime Minister John Key will leave on a charm offensive of Latin America next week in the first bilateral visit of the region by a Prime Minister since Helen Clark in 2001.

Twice in the past decade, Solid Energy has enjoyed revenue close to $1 billion, and aside from last year has returned some healthy profits - and dividends for the Government.

Testing for a toxic agricultural substance in New Zealand dairy products has found no traces of it after mid-November last year.

There are no simple solutions available to the Reserve Bank to deal with a New Zealand dollar that is significantly overvalued, says governor Graeme Wheeler.

The exchange rate is too high, Reserve Bank governor Graeme Wheeler says, but there are no simple solutions available to the bank to lower it.