Supermarkets under the spotlight. The Commerce Commission this week released a hard-hitting draft report on competition in the retail grocery sector, with supermarkets not coming out of it well. The Commission found problems and they’re mainly with the structure of the market. In competitive terms the major retailers, Woolworths NZ and Foodstuffs, are a duopoly […]
economics
Economic Week – July 23
GDT down again. Dairy prices slipped again at this week’s Global Dairy Trade auction, its seventh consecutive fall stretching back three over three months. Overall, the GDT Price Index was down 2.9% compared to the previous auction a fortnight ago. Whole milk powder, by far the biggest traded by volume, was down 3.8%, while skim […]
Economic Week – July 16
Stimulus reduced. The Reserve Bank caused ripples this week with its decision to wind back on its extraordinary monetary stimulus. Although it kept its Official Cash Rate on hold at 0.25%, the Reserve Bank announced it would be ceasing its programme of large scale asset purchases from 23 July 2021, almost a year ahead of […]
Urban Kiwis and Farmers Share a Vision for Sustainable Food Production
When it comes to sustainable food, what matters more? What we’re buying. Or where, and who, we’re buying our food from? New research from @ourlandandwater suggests that urban Kiwis see supporting farmers directly with their dollar as the strongest sustainable food choice they can make. The study found that town or country, Kiwis have mostly […]
Economic Week – June 25
After plenty of action last week, this week has been a quiet one for economic data, with just a couple of statistical releases. Farm sales still strong. The Real Estate Institute of New Zealand (REINZ)’s latest Rural Property Statistics shows there were 439 farm sales in the three months to May 2021, up 78.5% on […]
Economic Week – June 18
GDP surprisingly strong….will rates rise sooner? Despite continued border restrictions keeping out international tourists and despite Auckland being in alert level 3 lockdown for 10 days, March quarter’s Gross Domestic Product was undeniably strong. Quarterly growth of 1.6% came in well ahead of economists’ expectations, including the Reserve Bank which had been forecasting a 0.6% […]
Economic Week – June 11
Bank satisfaction continues to wane. Last Friday, Federated Farmers released the results from its May 2021 Banking Survey. It showed a further slippage in farmer satisfaction in banking relationships, a trend evident since late 2017. Our media release is here and the full report can be found here. The key results were: 62% of farmers […]
Economic Week – June 4
Record high for commodity prices. The ANZ Commodity Price Index has had another positive month, with the World Price Index up 1.3% for the month of May and up 24.4% for the year. The Index has risen for eight consecutive months and it has been pushed to a new record high (at least since the […]
Economic Week – May 21
Budget 2021. The big economic news for the week was, of course, the Budget. For my account of Budget 2021 and what it means for farming click here. For the rest of the week’s economic news read on… Dairy prices slip again. This week’s Global Dairy Trade auction was its third consecutive fall, albeit just […]
Farmers bankroll Budget’s big spending
Federated Farmers wants New Zealand’s farmers to pat themselves on the back for making it possible for the country to afford the Budget announced by the Government today. In his speech to present the Budget Minister of Finance Grant Robertson acknowledged the financial carnage predicted by the Government last year did not eventuate. “And that’s […]