Fonterra has attacked proposed changes to raw milk regulations, saying profits will head overseas and it will hinder, rather than help, New Zealanders get access to affordable milk, according to the Otago Daily Times.
A New Zealand Trade and Enterprise study has revealed that the New Zealand natural products industry has exceeded $1 billion in revenue, according to Scoop.co.nz.
Exporters are not doing enough to take advantage of the booming Chinese marketplace, according to a NZ Herald report quoting BNZ chief economist Tony Alexander.
The Australian and US food safety authorities have banned the import of orange concentrate containing residues of a synthetic fungicide carbendazim. How the NZ Food Safety Authority has no similar plan.
Walt Disney Co is on track to open its first store in China in fall 2012 and is committed to opening from 25 to 40 stores in the most populous country during the next three years, according to ChinaDaily.com.
New Zealand’s children clothing manufacturer Pumpkin Patch is likely to close its UK retail business after appoint administrators to review its 36 stores in Britain.
Fonterra says it has broken its own record for the highest export month, helping to boost New Zealand's economy by $1.3 billion last month, according to the NZ Herald.
The International Monetary Fund said it would seek up to $US500 billion in new financial firepower as the European debt crisis increasingly threatens the global economy, according to the Sydney Morning Herald.
India, the world's biggest consumer of bullion, increased import duties on gold and silver, potentially cooling demand from jewellery buyers and investors, according to GulfNews.com.
China's economy expanded by 9.2 percent in 2011 from a year earlier and 8.9 percent year-on-year in the fourth quarter, according to ChinaDaily.com. Forecasts are for a GDP growth around 8.5 per cent in 2012.
Apple exporters are optimistic about shipping to an Australia market open after 90 years but some early failures last year are a reality check on the rules, according to a NZ Herald report.
Beef prices rebounded 12 per cent in December, propelled by greater opportunities in the lucrative European market and a consumer shift from steak to burgers, according to www.stuff.co.nz.
China has once again condemned the United States' unilateral sanctions imposed on the Islamic Republic of Iran, saying the US is seeking to internationalize its unilateral sanctions, according to www.presstv.ir.
Shippers have been told not to lose sleep over the recent, short-lived jump in spot freight rates but to focus instead on ways to mitigate the risk of a sudden capacity crunch later in the year, according to analyst Drewry Maritime Research.
Standard & Poor's mass ratings downgrade of euro zone members today is not good news for NZ which is seen struggling to sell to the region as the NZ dollar rises.
