OVERSEAS TRADE

Gisborne Herald, Volume LXVIII, Issue 20548, 7 May 1941, Page 3

OVERSEAS TRADE

12 MONTHS' RESULTS SURPLUS £23,262,000 IMPORTS £2,347,000 UP An excess of exports valued at £23,202,000 over the total of imports 's shown by the returns of New Zealand's overseas trade for the 12 months ended March. 31. This is the visible commodity balance, no specie being included.

For the month of March, concerning which preliminary figures were issued by the Customs Department in Wellington, exports show a fall of £857,000 compared with the corresponding month last year. Imports were £1,206,000 higher.

The following table shows the trade figures for March in the past five years:—

For the 12 months ended March 31 exports at £71,180,000 were£ll, 537,000 higher than the year before, while imports increased by £2,347,000. The •’ommodily balance, valued at £23,262,000, was substantially the highest in the past 10 years. Figures for 10 Years

The table which follows, gives the figures for the year ended March 31 in each of the 10 years shown: —

Returns for the first nine months of the production season, which extends from July to June, show an increase of £5,321,000 in exports compared with the same period in 1939-40. Imports have risen by £1,849,000, and the excess of exports in £3,472,000 greater than it was at the same time in the previous season. A comparison of results in the past

March Exports 1? Imports £ Excess £ 1937 .. .1^ 7,509,000 4,606,000 2,903,000 1938 .. 7,366,000 4,907,000 2,459,000 1939 .. 7,683,000 4,356,000 3,327,000 1940 .. 7,265,000 2,728,000 4,537,000 1941 .. 6,408,000 3,934,000 2,474,000 A similar comparison for the three months January to March in the past 5ve years is as follows: — Jan.Exoorts Imports Excess March £ £ £ 1937 .. 22.280.00 12,984,000 9,296,000 1938 .. 20,575,000 14,887.000 5,688,000 1939 . . 20,066,000 13,874,000 6,192,000 1940 .. 21,700,000 10,058,000 11.642,000 1941 . . 19.139,000 8,979.000 10,160,000

Exports Imports Excess £ £ £ 1932 .. 33.943,000 24,761,000 9,182,000 1933 .. 37.510.000 25,059.000 12,451,000 1934 .. 46,043,000 26,136.000 19,907,000 1935 .. 44,918,000 32,568,000 12.350,000 1936 .. 49,676,000 37,440.000 12,236,000 1937 60,234,000 47,621,000 12,613,000 1938 .. 65.008,000 58,065.000 6,943,000 1939 . . 57,867,000 54,409.000 3.458,000 1940 .. 59.643,000 45,571,000 14,072.000 1941 .. 71.180,000 47,918.000 23,262,000

five seasons is as follows:-— JulyExports Imports Excess March £ £ £ 1936-37 44,802,000 37,258,000 7.544,000 1937-38 45,188,000 45,321,000 *133,000 1938-39 41,135,000 42,187,000 *1,052,000 1939-40 42,927,000 31,258,000 11.669,000 1940-41 48,248,000 33,107,000 15,141,000 i of imports