SeaDragon, which manufactures fish oil for health supplements, has reported a $574,000 half-year loss, 362 percent down on the same period last year after difficulties securing raw material saw its factory underused. The Nelson-based company reported strong sales growth of 23 per cent to $2.6 million in the six months ending Sept. 30, ahead of the $2.4 million the company …

The New Zealand dollar touched a fresh seven-year high against the yen after Japanese prime minister Shinzo Abe called a snap election and said he would delay plans to hike sales tax to seek a mandate for economic reform after the country fell into recession. The kiwi reached 93.22 yen, its highest since July 2007, and was trading at 92.75 yen …

The China/Australia Free Trade Agreement, or “CHAfta” as it is being called, gives Australian dairy farmers much better access to the Chinese infant formula market, which they have been beaten out of by the New Zealanders in recent years. Agricultural sector writer Alan Emerson recently noted that in 2009 New Zealand and Australia produced approximately the same amount of milk. …