WELLINGTON, Dec. 13 (Xinhua) -- New Zealand's export price of butter reached a new high in the September 2017 quarter, to be up 8.8 percent from the June 2017 quarter, the country's statistics department Stats NZ said on Wednesday.
Export butter prices increased 75 percent in the year ended September 2017, and these gains were closely tracked in domestic butter prices in New Zealand shops, Stats NZ said.
The recent increase in butter export prices was influenced by high global demand and a drop in European milk supply, it said.
"Lower international supply was caused partly by lower farm-gate milk prices in Europe, which led to reduced herd sizes," prices senior manager Jason Attewell said in a statement.
"Globally, consumers often place a premium on New Zealand butter. That demand has pushed the export price to new heights," Attewell said.
International market prices for butter typically flow through to the supermarket cost for New Zealand consumers, he said, adding that in the September 2017 quarter, the price of a 500g block of butter was up 9.7 percent from the June 2017 quarter.
"Kiwi food shoppers have felt the impact of record world butter prices," Attewell said, adding that in recent years, export and domestic price changes for butter have tracked very closely, which reflects the fact that New Zealand consumers are "price takers" on the international market despite New Zealand being a major butter producer.
Local and international production have both increased and milk supply in Europe has begun to expand, he said, adding that fears of the butter shortage continuing through to Christmas have abated.
