New Zealand's Trade Surplus Widens

WELLINGTON, New Zealand--New Zealand's trade surplus widened in March from a year earlier, Statistics New Zealand said Friday.

The nation's merchandise trade surplus came to 332 million New Zealand dollars (US$179 million) in March compared with a $189 million surplus a year earlier, with exports buoyed by dairy and lamb shipments to China.

In February, New Zealand posted a slight trade deficit of NZ$50 million.

"China continues to be our top destination for goods exports, and accounts for a quarter of the total dairy exports value," international statistics manager Tehseen Islam said.

"This March, exports to China exceeded $1 billion for the first March month since 2014," he said.

Stats NZ said total imports for March were NZ$4.31 billion, while total exports were NZ$4.65 billion

Write to Ben Collins at ben.collins@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

April 27, 2017 19:23 ET (23:23 GMT)