29 Apr 2015

Slump in milk powder exports to China

2:18 pm on 29 April 2015

Annual export statistics confirm one of the main factors driving down dairy prices this season, and that's the slump in China's imports of milk powder, which are reported to have fallen sharply again last month.

Figures from Statistics New Zealand show total exports to China fell by 29 percent, or $324 million, for the year to the end of March, largely due to the drop in whole milk powder sales there.

It pushed Australia ahead of China again as New Zealand's top export destination for the first time since November, 2013.

In contrast to its milk powder imports, China's log imports leapt by 76-percent last month, with the biggest increase in shipments coming from New Zealand and Australia.

Increase in log imports

In contrast to its milk powder imports, China's log imports leapt by 76 percent last month, with the biggest increase in shipments coming from New Zealand and Australia.

The Wood Resource Quarterly publication reported that Australasian shipments made up more than half of China's log imports for March.

The surge in shipments came after almost a year of declining log imports.

However log prices in that market continued their downward trend. In March, they were 15 percent below the price of a year ago.