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 Dairy product prices fell to the lowest level since December 2012 in the latest GlobalDairyTrade auction, paced by whole milk powder and anhydrous milk fat. The GDT price index dropped 8.9 percent to US$3,309 a tonne, from US$3,595 a tonne two weeks ago. Some 36,656 tonnes of product was sold, down from 41,513 tonnes two weeks ago. ‘New Zealand’s regional …

LanzaTech New Zealand, which counts US billionaire clean-tech investor Vinod Khosla as its biggest shareholder, posted a wider full-year loss as the company scales up technology that uses microbes to convert industrial waste gases into fuel-grade ethanol and other useful chemicals.  The Chicago-based biotech firm reported a loss of $40.5 million in calender 2013, from a loss of $35.1 million a year …

New Zealand house sales fell in June from a year earlier, led by properties of $400,000 or less, indicating the Reserve Bank’s restrictions on low-equity loans are curbing demand at the cheaper end of the market. Sales fell 6.1 percent in June from the same month of 2013 to 5,763 and were down 12.3 percent from May, according to the Real Estate Institute. …

The New Zealand dollar held above 88 US cents and may test its post-float high this week as traders prepare for testimony from US Federal Reserve chair Janet Yellen and local data that’s expected to confirm inflation is accelerating. The kiwi traded at 88.03 USA cents at 8am in Wellington, little changed from the New York and Wellington closes on Friday last week. The …

US Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen’s testimony to Congress will offer a key focus in the coming days, while investors will also try to gauge whether earnings support the improved outlook for the world’s biggest economy. On Tuesday, Yellen is scheduled to deliver her semi-annual policy testimony to the Senate Banking Committee, and the next day to the House Financial …

New Zealand shares declined, tracking US and European equities lower as sentiment waned on concern about the euro-zone’s financial stability after a major Portuguese bank missed debt payments. The NZX 50 Index slid 27.421 points, or 0.535 percent, to 5,100.592. Within the index, 30 stocks fell, nine rose, and 11 were unchanged. Turnover was $81.3 million. In northern hemisphere trading overnight, …

Infratil, the infrastructure investor, has appointed Kiwibank deputy chair Alison Gerry to its board. Her appointment as an independent director fills a casual vacancy and expands the Infratil board to six directors, the company said in a statement. She will retire and seek re-election at Infratil’s Aug. 12 annual meeting. She will also the Infratil board’s audit and risk committee. Gerry has been …

Digging deep into NZ’s biggest industry, the 2014 Agribusiness report looks at how the major players fared. Examining industry structures, global supply chains and government programmes to support the industry. We considered the opportunities and constraints on New Zealand agribusiness and some of the rising star companies in agritechnology. We also looked at rapidly developing market opportunities including the Middle …

and Alexander Speirs New Zealand’s oldest dairy co-op celebrated its centenary anniversary on Monday evening. Staunchly independent and refreshingly different, Tatua has evolved from a dairy company of 10 farmers to an international business with nearly 400 staff and revenue approaching $250 million. Based on the outskirts of Morrinsville in Central Waikato, CEO Paul McGilvary describes the company as being …

It’s high-stakes for Fonterra and its more than 10,000 farmer shareholders as the dairy cooperative tries to halt Danone’s multimillion-dollar action in the High Court at Auckland. The French food conglomerate wants compensation for alleged damages of the more than half a billion dollars it claims to have suffered as a result of last year’s botulism scare. The scare ultimately …