Honey has been popular for thousands of years. Celebrated as one of the few foods that never goes bad, the uses of honey have ranged from being a base for ancient Egyptian ointments to a family favourite to be spread on toast for breakfast.
It has been a long damp winter but that has not dented our tourism numbers with visitors flocking to (almost) 100% pure New Zealand. With the August visitor numbers released, rounding out the winter months, we can finally see if the rain, wind and countless landslips have made foreign travellers reconsider their plans.
Revenue from New Zealand’s goods exports are picking up the pace after a prolonged flat period. Over 24 months from early 2015, merchandise export revenue struggled to budge from around an annual total of $46bn.
Social enterprises are sweeping the world. Here in New Zealand, Christchurch is hosting the Social Enterprise World Forum (SEWF) in September 2017. People who lead these enterprises are called social entrepreneurs. They run profitable businesses but they are not exclusively concerned with making a profit. But why? Do they not have to pay dividends to investors? Well no, because the investors are not interested in dividends! All surpluses are applied for growth and development of the social enterprise, so that it can achieve social and environmental benefits for people and the environment. That’s the value proposition for investors.
In the last year or two, some people connected to the tourism industry have talked about how high the activity levels seen in the summer months have extended into the spring and autumn months. They talk about the shoulder season extending.
Commercial fishing plays a significant part in the New Zealand economy. This report, prepared for the New Zealand commercial fishing industry, concludes that on average, in the five years to 2015, commercial fishing provided...
Release of accommodation data for May confirms growth in the tourism sector was strong across all regions in the months before the arrival of the Lions rugby team.
The nation’s economic output, our gross domestic product (GDP), can be measured as a combination of personal consumption expenditure (e.g. food); investment expenditure by firms and households (e.g. machinery and houses); expenditure by the government (e.g. health services); and incomes from net exports made up from exports less imports.
The official Press Release for the March quarter 2017 GDP said that the fall-back in construction was to some extent compensated for by the increase in agricultural GDP.
Merchandise exports have been pretty flat for around two years, with a slight uptick near the end of the last period for which we have data.
The Real Estate Institute of New Zealand (REINZ) has introduced a new house price index (HPI). It improves on the previous index by better accounting for the quality-mix of real-estate sales.
Despite some glib talk about there being a post-industrial age, or a sector in crisis, Manufacturing in New Zealand has continued to grow in the longer term, at least in terms of production.
With the continuing solid foundation of strong employment growth and tourist visitor arrivals, the retail sector remains in buoyant mood. The core sector, which excludes motor vehicle related industries, is registering sales close to 5% above those of the previous year.
The year to March was disappointing in terms of revenue from New Zealand’s merchandise exports. The total of $46.9bn just pipped the $46.5bn of the previous year, but was well down on the peak $49.3bn for the 12 months to September 2014. However, within this static total are components that are painting a dynamic picture of NZ’s export scene.
Total guest nights in commercial accommodation providers declined for the year to March 2017, from 38.5 million to 38.4 million. Overall this was a decline of 0.3 percent from the previous month.
A response to the threat to Māui dolphins
As of 10th May 2017 MBIE has made publicly available submissions on their Retail Payments Systems Issues Paper. BERL was commissioned by RetailNZ to prepare a submission on their behalf. RetailNZ represents retailers in New Zealand.
In the year to December 2016 New Zealand exported $48.5 billion in merchandise exports, this was down from $49 billion exports in 2015, and the $50.1 billion exports in 2014. As shown in the figure below New Zealand exports have grown by $19.2 billion since 2000, when $29.3 billion worth of goods was exported.
While the lens is currently focused on record net migration numbers and the burgeoning tourism industry, parts of our export sector have been making new records.
Tourism has very much been the jewel in the export crown this year with 3.4 million international visitors in the year to October.
*An improvement to dairy’s economic and environment impact*
In early August New Zealand received a warning notice from China as a result of inspections in China detecting the fungus Neofabraea actinidiae in a shipment of Kiwifruit. This notice has brought about a halt to shipments of Kiwifruit to China, until Zespri can set up more stringent pre-shipment measures.
Almost every day, our newspapers and news websites carry stories about tourists causing traffic problems and road accidents, or about freedom campers despoiling popular locations by using them as lavatories. One of the underlying messages is that the country is being overrun by visitors.
The chatter in New Zealand has been focused on the woes of the dairy industry after successive falls in payouts to farmers and falling demand.
The surveys that we monitor indicate that manufacturing activity in the first quarter of 2016 continues to expand, although at a slowing rate, and business confidence remains positive.
The latest data reveals that Kiwis spent more over the last holiday season than in 2013. The December 2014 quarter sales for both the core retail sector and the total retail industry rose by more than 4.7 percent on year-earlier levels. The core sector measure excludes the motor vehicle sales, service and petrol sub-sectors.
The latest data reveals that Kiwis have spent more in 2014 than they had done in the previous year. The September 2014 quarter sales for both the core retail sector and the total retail industry increased by more than 4 percent on year-earlier levels. The core sector measure excludes the motor vehicle sales, service and petrol sub-sectors.
The Fonterra Annual Review 2013, which was published alongside its Annual Report on 24 September 2014, confirmed that 2013/14 had been a bumper season, with a final pay-out of $8.40/kg of milk solids. However, at the same time it forecast a pay-out of just $5.30/kg of milk solids for the 2014/15 season.
The GDT Price Index has fallen by 8.4 percent during the last GlobalDairy Trade auction on the 5th of August. More worrying the figure below reveals that the weighted average wining price has plummeted to 3,025 USD/MT (US dollars per mega tonne) from its record high of 5,042 USD/MT set in February this year.
In our previous commentary on manufacturing we noted that the first half of 2013 was looking positive for manufacturing. Now the numbers are in for the third quarter of 2013, and we can see the impact that the warm, dry conditions at the beginning of the year has had on manufacturing sales volumes, and in turn the amount of New Zealand meat and dairy products on the international market.
In our previous commentary on manufacturing we noted that the first quarter of 2013 was looking positive for manufacturing. Now the numbers are in for the second quarter of 2013, and we can see the impact that the warm, dry conditions at the beginning of the year has had on manufacturing sales volumes, and in turn the amount of New Zealand meat and dairy products on the international market.
Members of the New Zealand Manufacturers and Exporters Association remain concerned about markets and production capacity, especially pressures on company margins due to the currency. These sentiments have seen net confidence decrease among the businesses surveyed in the latest New Zealand Manufacturers and Exporters Association Survey of Business Conditions.
Monthly trade registered a $304 million deficit in January 2013, following a surplus in December 2012. The decrease in monthly exports of dairy and crude oil, and the renewed strength in imports caused this return to the red zone.
New Zealand’s current account remains in red, with annual deficit increasing to $9.9 billion from $8.8 billion in the same quarter last year.
The annual average percentage change in manufacturing sales volumes recorded small but positive growth in the September 2012 quarter. This was due to an increase in the sales volumes of dairy and meat products, chemicals and non-metallic mineral products.
With Christmas season and summer holidays just around the corner, consumers are starting to loosen their grip on their wallets.
The October trade deficit declined from $775 million in the previous month to $718 million in October 2012, but remains well above the $226 million deficit in the same month in the previous year. The annual deficit has ballooned to $1.37 billion, from a deficit of $874 million a year ago.
September trade figures is a mixed bag of good and bad news. The good news is, the monthly trade defict narrowed, with dairy exports holding up. The bad news is, annual receipts from exports and trade volume are getting lighter.
The BNZ-Business NZ’s monthly Performance of Services Index (PSI) assesses the level of business activity in the service sector in New Zealand. A PSI reading of over 50 indicates an expansion in activity and a reading below 50 indicates a contraction.
The latest electronic card transactions for the September quarter show that seasonally adjusted retail sales grew at 0.9 percent. This is in line with our June forecast, for annual growth of 3.5-4.0 percent. It was a bit ahead of what might be implied from the Treasury’s Monthly Economic Indicators forecast in August.
July was positive month for New Zealand trade, with a slight trade surplus of $15 million. Yet, our trade deficit increased from $756 million in June to $825 million this month based on annualised values.
“It’s time we got patriotic about our manufacturing industry” So says Labour leader David Shearer after his visit this week to Kiwirail’s Hillside workshops in Dunedin. This is like music to my ears.
In the year to July 2012, the number of visitors totalled 2,633,200, a 5.6 percent increase on year earlier levels.
A surge in dairy and forestry exports contributed to a strong monthly surplus of $331m. June figures showed a 25% increase in forestry export volumes and an 8% increase in dairy exports. However, monthly figures are prone to erratic movements – depending on holidays, shipping timetables and the like.
Lower demand and weaker global prices for our key export products are showing through in manufacturing sales volumes.
New Zealand's trade deficit is ballooning further, as exports continue to struggle and imports continue to increase. The annual deficit for the year to May was $801 million, up $248 million from the deficit for the year to April.
Following on the back of the past few months’ positive signs, retail sales continued to recovery in June. Compared with May 2012, seasonally adjusted purchases via eftpos and credit cards rose by 0.4 percent.
New Zealand’s Balance of Payments current account (external) deficit now stands at 4.8% of GDP, up from the 2.3% and 3.8% recorded in the two previous March years.
A slide in commodity prices and softer demand from China and Australia has led to lower export receipts in April 2012. The latest official trade figures signal weakness in the external sector, with the trade surplus for the month falling to $355 million.
March 2012 trade figures indicate a fall in the value of exports compared to year-earlier levels. Exports were valued at $4.2bn in March, down from $4.6bn in March 2011. Flagship exports such as dairy, crude oil and fruits all recorded lower export revenue this March.
While the increasing number of total overseas visitors is good news for our tourism sector, the largest gains in visitor numbers are coming from Australia (up 56,300) and China (up 30,700). While Australia represents our largest visitor market with 45 percent of all visitors in the year to March 2012, Australians tend to spend small amounts when travelling in New Zealand.
Business NZ’s monthly Performance of Services Index (PSI) declined in March 2012. The seasonally-adjusted index fell 1.9 points from February to 53.9 in March 2012. Despite this fall, the PSI index is up 2.3 points on year-earlier levels.
Last week, AFFCO locked out 762 workers indefinitely after talks between AFFCO and the NZ Meat Workers Union broke down. The 762 workers are said to represent 70 percent of the meat workers across Moerewa, Horotiu, Imlay, Wairoa and Manawatu plants.
The New Zealand Manufacturers and Exporters Association Survey of Business Conditions indicate that domestic manufacturing sales decreased by less than half a percent in December 2011 compared to December 2010, while manufacturing export sales increased by 15.4%.
