War in Ukraine, disruption to global supply chains, galloping shipping prices, food security concerns…it’s hardly surprising that when Ravensdown’s Mike Whitty is asked for a fertilizer situation outlook he says “extreme volatility, and that’s not going to change for the foreseeable future”. Mike, Ravensdown’s General Manager Supply Chain, was the expert speaker in a Federated […]
Shipping
Economic Week – January 14
by Nick Clark, Group Manager National Policy Happy New Year and welcome back. Here is Feds’ first economic update for 2022. Plenty in it as it’s been four weeks since our last one for 2021. Banking Survey Just before Christmas we released results from our November 2021 Banking Survey. Overall, they were relatively positive, with […]
Economic Week – 17 December
by Nick Clark, Manager National Policy A bumper issue this week with a flood of economic data. This will be my last economic update for the year. It’ll be back in the New Year. In the meantime, I wish readers a happy and relaxing Christmas and holiday period – and a prosperous 2022. GDP falls […]
Economic Week – September 17
by Nick Clark, Manager General Policy Ancient history, big questions Economic activity was strong in the June quarter, even stronger than expected. But it’s nearly three months since its end and growth has since taken a hit. There are also plenty of questions on the outlook. Statistics NZ’s Gross Domestic Product for the June 2021 […]
Economic Week – September 3
by Nick Clark, Federated Farmers Manager General Policy Terms of trade back to record high Higher export prices in the June quarter pushed up the merchandise terms of trade, according to Statistics NZ’s International Trade Indexes. Export prices for goods rose 8.3% on the previous quarter, while import prices rose 4.8%. Stats NZ noted that […]
Economic Week – August 6
Have commodities peaked? Having posted record highs in recent months, commodity prices slipped in July. The ANZ World Commodity Price Index was down 1.4% compared to June. Dairy was the main downward influence, with its prices down 3.4% for the month. Meat and fibre prices were up 0.6%, with higher prices for lamb and wool […]
Economic Week – July 9
by Nick Clark, Federated Farmers Manager General Policy Commodity prices rise but freight issues biting June saw commodity prices continue to rise to new record highs, but freight costs and delays are also intensifying, according to the monthly ANZ Commodity Price Index. The World Commodity Price Index was up 0.8% June, taking the year-on-year […]
Log supply not the cause of timber shortage – Forest Owners Assn
Forest organisations have joined to reject statements that the current shortage of framing timber is caused by foresters selling logs to China and not leaving enough timber to be processed for sale in New Zealand. The Wood Processors and Manufacturers Association’s Chief Executive, Jon Tanner says Chinese log buyers were going to what he called […]
Reinforcing New Zealand’s place in the rules-based trading framework
by Macaulay Jones, Federated Farmers Policy Advisor Federated Farmers says the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) Agreement provides a much- needed qualitative show of support for the rules-based international trading framework. In mid-February, Andrew Hoggard, the National President of Federated Farmers of New Zealand, appeared before the Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade Select Committee as […]
First shipment of record Zespri SunGold Kiwifruit crop sets sail for Japan and Korea
The first shipment of what is expected to be a record season of New Zealand-grown Zespri Kiwifruit is now en route to Tokyo and Busan. The fruit is aboard the MV Kakariki, the second of three new specialised reefer vessels built by Fresh Carriers to ship New Zealand-grown kiwifruit to Zespri’s Asian markets, with the […]