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The New Zealand dollar is heading for a 2.4 percent drop against the greenback this week after a slump in milk powder prices this week fuelled calls for the Reserve Bank to cut interest rates more aggressively to prop up the country’s biggest export sector. The kiwi fell to 65.37 US cents at 5pm in Wellington from 71.29 cents on Friday …

A slump in the price of whole milk powder, New Zealand’s key dairy export, is likely to continue according to traders who are pricing in further declines on the NZX futures market. The price for whole milk powder dropped 13.1 percent to an average US$1,848 a tonne at the latest GlobalDairyTrade auction overnight on Wednesday as many of the monthly contracts failed …

New Zealand wool prices rose at the latest auction as a decline in the local currency made it more attractive for overseas buyers. The price for clean 35-micron wool, a benchmark for crossbred wool used for carpets and accounting for the majority of New Zealand’s production, rose to $5.90 per kilogram at yesterday’s South Island auction, from $5.75/kg in last week’s …

 New Zealand export log prices were unchanged this month amid uncertainty about the outlook for China’s economy. The average wharf gate price for New Zealand A-grade logs held at $86 a tonne in July from June, according to AgriHQ’s monthly survey of exporters, forest owners and sawmillers. The AgriHQ Log Price Indicator, which measures average log prices weighted by grade, fell …

Andrew Robinson, a struck off financial adviser and former director of Strategic Planning Group, has been jailed for six years after pleading guilty to fraud charges earlier this year. Robinson was sentenced in the High Court in Auckland today, having pleaded guilty to five charges of theft by a person in a special relationship and one charge of dishonestly using …

Federated Farmers says top management should be leaving Fonterra Cooperative Group if results don’t start improving in the next couple of years. The comments, from Fed Farmers dairy chair Andrew Hoggard were in response to the confirmation today by the world’s largest dairy exporter that it will cut 523 jobs to save up to $60 a million a year on its payroll …

Weaker dairy prices have prompted analysts to pull back their expectations for Fonterra Cooperative Group’s payout to farmers this season, with most now expecting this year’s payout will be below last year’s, which is likely to put pressure on farm incomes and see debt levels rise. The price for whole milk powder, New Zealand’s key commodity export, dropped 13 percent …

Dairy product prices sank in the latest GlobalDairyTrade auction, paced by cheddar and whole milk powder, reflecting a sombre outlook. The GDT average winning prices sank 10.7 percent to US$2,082, down from US$2,276 at the previous auction two weeks ago. It was the lowest level since July 2009. Some 31,691 tonnes of product was sold, down from 33,200 tonnes of …

Trade Ministers from the 12 negotiating countries for the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) will hold a four day ministerial in Maui from July 28-July 31 to try and get agreement on the thorny issues holding up the resolution of the deal. “The upcoming ministerial provides an important opportunity to build on this progress as we work to conclude the negotiation,” said the formal …

341 global civil society organizations – including development advocates, trade unions, farmers’ organizations, consumer and environmental groups from over 100 countries – sent a letter to WTO members today urging them to abandon the WTO expansion talks and instead focus on an urgent agenda to fix existing damaging rules in the WTO. July 31, 2015 is the date by which …