NZ trade balance keeps soaring

FXStreet (Bali) - New Zealand trade balance for the month of February came at $818M vs $600M expected and $306M last, with the $0.49B expected and $0.31B last. Exports stood at $4.65B vs $4.44B expected and $4.08B last, while imports came at $3.74B vs $3.78B expected and $3.77B last.

Key facts

For February 2014 compared with February 2013:

Exports rose $663 million (17 percent) to $4.6 billion.

Milk powder, butter, and cheese led the increase in exports, up $433 million.

Exports to China rose $388 million to $1.2 billion, and to Australia fell $2.4 million to $718 million.

Imports rose $277 million (8.0 percent) to $3.7 billion.
Petroleum and products led the increase in imports, up $85 million.

Imports from China rose $4.4 million to $647 million, and from Australia fell $46 million to $444 million.

There was a trade surplus of $818 million (18 percent of exports).
The trends for the values of exports and imports have been increasing in recent months.