DOMINION'S TRADE

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXX, Issue 21471, 20 April 1933, Page 5

DOMINION'S TRADE

RETURNS FOR MARCH EXPORTS RISEN AGAIN GROWING STERLING BALANCE A valuation of £5,396,273 was placed on the exports from New Zealand during March, according to preliminary returns of the month s overseas tiade issued by the Customs Department in Wellington yesterday. This is a substantially higher figure than for March last year, when the value was £3,682,468. Even allowing for the difference in apparent value due to the rise in overseas exchange March this year shows much the better return. Imports show a small increase on. the phenomenally low figure in March last year, £1,883,809 against £1,872,039. The March total last year was a low record for any corresponding month since the end of the war. The increase now shown leaves the value still lower than that in any March during that period. Following is a comparison of the L.March returns in the past five years: —

Exports Imports Excess 1929 . . £7.590,558 £3,854,255 £3.742.303 1930 .. 5,666.637 4.0G2.976 1.503.6G1 1931 . . 5,121.210 2.088.130 3,001.003 1932 .. 3.082.408 1,872,039 1.810.429 1933 . . 5,390,273 1,888,809 3.507.404

The movement shown in March is re- ' fleeted in tho figures for the first 1 quarter of tho calendar year. The rise in exports, from £11,499,601 to £13,343,982, is not so marked, because last year tho low value in March followed high figures for January and February. This year there has been greater uniformity in tho figures for the threo months. On the import side the increase for March has not been sufficient to compensate for decreases earlier in the year, the total for the three months being £5,574,637, against £5,849,283 in 1932, a decrease <y £274,646. The apparent favourable balance for the quarter has shown a substantial rise of more than £2,000,000, from £5,650,318 to £7,769,345. Quarterly Figures Compared Following is a summary of the quarterly returns for the past five j years:— Jim.March Exports Imports Excess 1929 . . £24,102.572 £11,851,889 £12.250.083 1930 . . 17,509.320 12,221.820 5.347.500 1931 . . 12,150.418 7,490,719 4.659.699 1932 . 11,499,061 5,849,283 5.G50.31S 1933 '. . 13,343,982 5.574,037 7.709.345 The returns for the 12 months ended March 31 show an increase in exports of £4,313,950 in comparison with the previous year, and a reduction of only £717,623 'below the total for 1930-31. Thev are still more than £10,000,000 less than for 1929-30, however. Imports are lower by less than £500,000 compared with last year's total, but it had shown a decrease of £15,000,000 from the level reached in 1931-32. The 1 nominal favourable balance is now i £16,000,000, compared with £11,000,000 j last year and only £1,227,000 the year I before. Movements in the exchange j have influenced these figures, but not sufficiently to destroy the striking character of the comparisons, i Trade For Past Decade ! ! Following is a summary of the re- | turns for financial years in the last | decade: — Exports Imports Excess ! 1923-24 . £51,052,000 £44,401,750 £7.250,850 ; 1924-25 ' . 54.771.15S 49,821,095 4.950.003 ! 1925-20 . . 48,097,587 53.025.850 *4,328,209 | 1926-27 . 45,082,338 48,192,070 *2,510,332 ! 1927-28 . . 54,902,031 44.419,357 10.042,fw4 1928-29 . 57,154,343 45,105.805 12,048,4.S 1929-30 .. 49,045,817 49,167,914 122,097 1930-31 . 39,527,784 38,300,807 1.220,97/ 1931-32 . 34,496.211 23,105,522 11,330,G59 1932-33 . 38,810.161 22,770,400 16,039,.01 Totals £474,800,036 £418,371.302 £56,428,734 'Excess of Imports. As the financial year covers portions of two seasons of production, 1 the returns for the year ending on June 30 are a more reliable indication or the country's economic condition. A summary of the overseas trade in periods of nine months from July 1 to March 31 of recent years is as follows: — July-March Exports Imports 1924-25 . . £41.880.608 £39,006.523 £2.8(4.140 19<>5-26 33,128,283 41,133.894 *8,00a,611 1926-27 ' 32,473,774 37.068.8G2 *4.595.088 1907 08 41 040,722 34,214,532 6,826,190 1928-29 '.' 42.575.781 35.822.455 6,753,320 1929 30 85,370.848 38.882,360 3,500,51 - ' 1930-31 ' ' 27:316:419 27.955.090 '638,671 1931-32 . 24.867.653 17.746,936 7,120,717 1932-33 . . 28,131,241 17,443,916 10,657,3-o 'Excess of Imports. The actual figures are nearly £4,000,000 higher than those shown a vear ago, and a little above the nine months' total in 1930-31. The sharp fall in imports displayed last year in comparison with the year before has been ; a little more than maintained, but only slightly increased. The nominal favourable balance is more than £3,000,000 creator than at this time last yenr. Conversion into sterling of the recoidod value of exports indicates that the excess of exports for the nine months was equivalent to £7,521.000 in London, [ compared with £4,423,000 last year. , The adi usted figure for the year ended ■ March 31 is. £9,491,000.