The new season is predicted to be the biggest New Zealand has ever seen.

Chinese regulations that caused upheaval in New Zealand's infant formula industry two years ago are set to be extended to honey and wine exporters.

COMMENT: The week has provided plenty to pique an observer's interest.

A chronic shortage of apprentices has sparked a national campaign to promote New Zealand's need for more skilled people in trades and services.

Zespri won't be exporting to its biggest market by volume until new checking protocols are in place.

Wall Street was little changed as investors eyed Friday's US jobs data to gauge the odds of a Federal Reserve rate increase this year.

Wall Street slid with shares of retailers and car makers amid concern that a better-than-expected pace of consumer spending is not sustainable.

World dairy prices have shot higher at the latest GlobalDairyTrade auction, with the GDT price index gaining 6.6pc.

COMMENT: The broader downstream benefits to New Zealand exporters from increased investment in trade routes and infrastructure are self-evident.

Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba has floated a proposal for a free trade zone to be created in Auckland near to the airport.

COMMENT: New Zealand should grab the opportunity to be at the forefront in creating the new narrative for global trade.

The gain in first-half profit reflects a recovery in the price of gold.

COMMENT: Looking beyond dairy, the picture is one of faltering growth in world trade volumes and mounting protectionism.

Wall Street was mixed amid disappointing earnings from Ford Motor and better-than-expected results from Facebook.

Trustpower may now have to pay nearly $15 million in tax and interest after losing a Supreme Court appeal.

New Zealand fruit exports have been the shining star of commodities over the past year.

Wall Street slid with the price of oil, pushing down shares of Chevron and Exxon Mobil, as investors awaited a host of key events.

Uncertainty persists as to what Britain's exit from the European Union will mean for New Zealand primary producers.

Britain's new finance minister Philip Hammond, under pressure from his peers from around the world, says there could be more clarity

COMMENT: China was the obvious elephant in the room when Joe Biden visited NZ as the Obama Administration moved to assert US supremacy in the region.

The latest GlobalDairyTrade auction offered few clues as to the likely direction of dairy prices in the season ahead.

A gain in whole milk powder offset a fall for most other products in the latest overnight dairy auction.

Wal-Mart hasn't met the target its manufacturing move had hoped for.

In the last leg of his visit to Indonesia, John Key stopped off in Surubaya to launch a competition which aimed to get more Indonesians interested in NZ.

COMMENT: Trade disputes are difficult but the allegation of steel dumping by China is playing out more messily than most.

The Government has refused to confirm whether NZ Steel has lodged complaints that China is 'dumping' low cost steel in the NZ market

Better-than-expected earnings such as from Bank of America as well as a US$45 billion tech deal helped bolster equities on both sides of the Atlantic.

NZ and Indonesia have taken an important step forward, the PM says, after the two countries agreed to put a multi-million-dollar export dispute behind them.

The Government says an ongoing dispute with Indonesia over its restrictions on New Zealand's exports will not overshadow the two countries' trade talks this week.

John Key says China has given no sign that it has concerns with New Zealand, let alone threatened to retaliate against Kiwi exporters.