Commodity prices fall by 5.2%

Forestry prices slid 6.1 per cent in August, led by a 10.4 per cent fall in log prices. Photo / Alan Gibson

New Zealand commodity prices fell for a fifth straight month in August, led by a decline in dairy prices to their lowest level in 11 years.

The ANZ Commodity Price Index slid 5.2 per cent in August, after a 5.5 per cent decline in July. The index is 23.5 per cent below levels a year earlier.

The drop was led by a slump in dairy prices, which fell 10.1 per cent from July.

However, dairy product prices rose by 10.9 per cent in the GlobalDairyTrade auction yesterday, taking the gain over the last two auctions to 23 per cent after nearly six months of declines.

ANZ chief economist Cameron Bagrie said the recent lifts in dairy auction prices "suggest the worst may be behind us".

Meanwhile, prices also fell across other commodities in August.

Forestry prices slid 6.1 per cent, led by a 10.4 per cent fall in log prices, reflecting weaker demand from China. Timber and pulp prices were flat.

Horticulture fell 1.6 per cent as both kiwifruit and apple prices declined. Aluminium prices dropped 5.6 per cent, and are 22.9 per cent lower than the year before. Prices in the seafood sector were unchanged.

Meat bucked the trend, rising 1.6 per cent as a 6.6 per cent gain in beef prices and a 1.4 per cent lift in wool prices offset a 2.2 per cent fall in lamb prices and a 2.3 per cent fall in skins.

The New Zealand dollar index fell 3.9 per cent in August to its lowest since February 2013.