[April 04, 2006] COMMODITY PRICES SLIP, BUT NZD FALL HELPS EXPORTERS Tweet (New Zealand Press Association Via Thomson Dialog NewsEdge)(EDS: Note embargoed until 1am Wednesday April 5) Wellington, April 5 NZPA - Falling beef and lamb prices pulled down commodity prices for the 10th consecutive month in March, but the lower New Zealand dollar boosted returns for exporters, according to data out today from ANZ. The ANZ World Commodity Index fell 1.4 percent in March to 22 month lows, with lamb down 5.2 percent and beef falling 2.1 percent. The other commodities to fall were dairy and aluminium, which dropped 1.4 and 1.3 percent respectively. Six commodities rose; wood pulp, skins, venison, wool, seafood and logs, while apples, kiwifruit and sawn timber world prices were all unchanged. While the World Commodity Index was down, things were brighter when converted into New Zealand dollars, with the ANZ New Zealand Dollar Commodity Price Index up 4.5 percent. ANZ economist Steve Edwards said the New Zealand dollar dropped 5.6 percent between February and March when averaged month-on-month. Mr Edwards said while the rise in the New Zealand dollar index would be welcomed by the agricultural community, its impact on 2005/2006 financial results would be muted as between 70 to 80 percent of the season's production had already been sold. NZPA WGT kp kn [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ]