Seasonally adjusted trade was declared as surplus in New Zealand

New Zealand posted a seasonally adjusted merchandise trade surplus of NZ$301 million in May, representing 6.8% of exports. The headline figure topped forecasts for a surplus of NZ$300 million following the downwardly revised NZ$335 million surplus in March (originally called NZ$355 million). It also follows surpluses of $906 million in May 2009, $770 million in May 2010 and $550 million in May 2011. Exports were down 4.4% on year to NZ$4.42 billion, beating expectations for NZ$4.06 billion after coming in at a downwardly revised NZ$3.87 billion in the previous month. By category, exports of meat and edible offal, logs, wood, and wood articles, and dairy products all declined in May 2012, as they did in April 2012. The trends for those commodities, which reflect how values change over time, have been falling for at least six months.