WELLINGTON, May 24 (Xinhua) -- More dairy, wood, and wine exports in April led to a goods trade surplus of 578 million New Zealand dollars (405.76 U.S. dollars), the largest monthly trade surplus of New Zealand since March 2015, Stats NZ said in a release on Wednesday.
Goods exports in April were worth 4.8 billion NZ dollars, up 9.8 percent year on year. Easter fell in April this year, but the holiday appeared to have little impact on exports, and both exports and imports reached new highs for an April month, the release said.
The top-five export commodities all rose compared with April 2016. Milk powder, butter, and cheese continued the increases seen in recent months, up 35 percent on the back of higher prices. Logs, wood, and wood articles rose 18 percent, with quantities up at a similar rate. Wine values rose 20 percent with quantities up 40 percent.
Goods imports were worth 4.2 billion NZ dollars, up 4.9 percent from April last year, it said.
The trade surplus "trimmed back the annual deficit, which reached an eight-year high in February," said international trade statistics senior manager Daria Kwon.
The annual trade deficit reduced to 3.5 billion NZ dollars in April from the peak of 3.8 billion NZ dollars in February, the highest trade deficit in almost eight years, according to the national statistic agency.
