The New Zealand dollar touched a fresh five-year low after dairy prices fell to a six-year low in the GlobalDairyTrade auction overnight, paced by whole milk powder, the nation’s key export commodity. The kiwi touched 67.27 US cents and was trading at 67.41 cents at 8am in Wellington, from 67.95 cents at 5pm yesterday. The trade-weighted index dropped to 70.73 from …

Dairy product prices continued their slide, paced by whole milk power, in the latest GlobalDairyTrade auction, weakening to the lowest level in six years. The GDT average winning prices dropped 5.9 percent to US$2,276 from US$2,409 at the previous auction two weeks ago. It was the lowest level since July 2009. Some 33,200 tonnes of product was sold, the highest …

Meridian Energy and Rio Tinto-controlled New Zealand Aluminium Smelters have extended their electricity agreement for another month, giving the Tiwai Point smelter owner a little more time to sort out its electricity needs. Wellington-based Meridian agreed with NZAS last night to extend the date the smelter owner can terminate their agreement until Aug. 3, while keeping all other terms unchanged, …