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NZX says reaching 200,000 dairy derivative contracts traded across its platform shows the market operator is on track to become the global hub for trading tied to New Zealand’s biggest export commodity. Trading exceeded the trading milestone this month on the NZX Global Dairy Derivatives Market, which was launched in October 2010 to offer risk management for the dairy industry It followed the establishment of Fonterra Cooperative …

Fonterra Cooperative Group, the world’s largest dairy exporter, has acquired 18.8 percent of Shenzen-listed Beingmate Baby & Child Food, falling short of the stake of up to 20 percent it was seeking in a partial tender offer. The transaction, valued at 3,464 million RMB (NZ$755 million) is well above the $615 million Fonterra indicated it would cost for a 20 percent …

New Zealand economic growth will slow over the next three years, while maintaining a “solid” pace, according to the NZ Institute of Economic Research’s consensus forecasts. The economy is expected to expand 3.3 percent in the year ending March 31, based on the median in the survey, slowing to a 2.9 percent pace in 2016, 2.8 percent in 2017 and 2.4 percent in …

Economic reform in China, one of New Zealand’s largest trading partners accounting for 22 percent of exports, is a lower priority than trying to save the future of the Communist party, according to Wall Street Journal columnist Andy Browne.  Speaking at a WSJ-organised event in Auckland on the future of New Zealand-China relations, Browne said the Chinese economy, the world’s second largest, is under …

Livestock Improvement Corp, a farmer cooperative that sells bull semen and provides a dairy genetics database, posted a 10 percent gain in first-half profit on increased demand for its products and services.  Profit rose to $29.7 million in the six months ended Nov. 30, from $26.9 million a year earlier, the Hamilton-based company said in a statement. Sales climbed 18 percent to $159 million. …

“Governments that understand the need for reform must find a way of countering this lazy, reactive style of politics, just as John Key’s government has done in New Zealand.” In its first two terms the Key administration made an effort to reduce the size of government, enhance the scope for growth and tackle seemingly intractable problems in tax, welfare and …

The economic upswing is one thing, but the New Zealand economy is also going through a material transition. We’re moving from legacy to opportunity, amidst the demands of rebuilding our second-largest city, housing shortages in our largest city, demographic shifts, global wobbles and an overvalued currency. We present six themes intertwined with this journey. A common sub-theme is the heightened importance of …

Proud New Zealander David McLean has been appointed chief executive of Westpac New Zealand after performing an “outstanding” job acting in the role since August 2014 following the resignation of Peter Clare. McLean’s appointment will be highly popular with bank executives and staff. A “people person” he is credited with bringing the bank together again after a bruising period under …

Synlait Milk, the listed dairy processor, has cut its forecast market milk price for the 2014/2015 season along with a corresponding decrease in advance rates to farmers due to depressed global dairy prices.  The Canterbury-based company lowered its forecast payout to $4.40 per kilogram of milk solids from a previous forecast of $5.00/kgMS, it said in a statement. The move follows dairy …

Graeme Harrison, chairman of meat company Anzco Foods, is to fund a new professorial chair in global value chains and trade at Lincoln University, initially for a term of five years.  The new position will sit within the university’s agribusiness and commerce faculty, which already has a global value chain and trade department. The university declined to release financial details …