NZ ANZ Commodity Price Index: 2nd straight month of rises

FXStreet (Bali) - The New Zealand ANZ Commodity Price Index for March increased by 4.6%, the second consecutive rise.

Quotes from Con Williams, Agri Economist at ANZ

"Dairy products once again led the increase (+9.2%), but much of this was a carryover effect into early March from the February rally in the GlobalDairyTrade (GDT) auctions. The last two GDT auctions have seen all of this improvement unwound already, not boding well for next month’s Commodity Price Index."

"One positive in March was a bounce in most meat and fibre product prices, which will hopefully prove more sustained. Outside of these twobsectors prices were either lower or unchanged.

"The World Price Index in March was down 11.9% from a year earlier, and in NZD terms was back just 2.5%. While at face value this is a vast improvement from the start of the year, all the improvement has been driven by dairy prices, which have now resumed falling."

"Much of the improvement in NZD terms has been due to the NZD/USD – it is sitting around 10 cents lower than a year ago. Against other currencies, however, the NZD remains very elevated, with both NZD/EUR and NZD/AUD at or close to post-float highs. Those exporters with exposure to Europe or Australia are feeling the pain."