Nimble New Zealand exporters finding opportunity amid shifting trade terms
Global trade wars and uncertain tariff regimes could play into the hands of many New Zealand exporters, according to Gareth Coleman ANZ’s Head of Trade & Supply Chain.
Onion growers are celebrating being able to export to Indonesia again after clarification of its new import rules.
Onions NZ chief executive, James Kuperus, says this follows months of negotiations over the exports which returned $28 million in 2019.
Kuperus says with the support of key figures such as Director General Horticulture, Indonesia, Prihasto Setyanto and the Indonesian Ambassador to New Zealand, Tantowi Yahya, the regulations have been clarified and exports have resumed.’
With the $28m in exports to Indonesia in 2019 in total, our country’s onion exports rose to $172 million in 2019 – up by $83 million on 2018.
Trade between Indonesia and New Zealand is equal, with exports/imports worth $1.1 billion to each economy.
Apatu Farms joint managing director, Paul Apatu says Onions NZ has been very proactive, working directly with Indonesian government officials, and various links in the Indonesian supply chain.
“The strategy is to grow the Indonesian market, along with other markets across the world. We’re pretty confident that long-term, international demand for New Zealand onions will grow,” says Apatu.
“We were pretty nervous that there might be some international supply chain disruptions as a result of COVID-19, but reports are that things are currently going pretty well.
“On a global basis, demand for onions is high and we’ve seen export markets making decisions to secure supplies, long-term.
“Onion growers are doing a great job giving the world a really high quality, healthy and great tasting product.”
New Zealand’s horticulture industry is now worth more than $6 billion to the country’s economy.
Applications have now opened for the 2026 Meat Industry Association scholarships.
Bank of New Zealand (BNZ) says it is backing aspiring dairy farmers through a new initiative designed to make the first step to farm ownership or sharemilking easier.
OPINION: While farmers are busy and diligently doing their best to deal with unwanted gasses, the opponents of farming - namely the Greens and their mates - are busy polluting the atmosphere with tirades of hot air about what farmers supposedly aren't doing.
OPINION: For close to eight years now, I have found myself talking about methane quite a lot.
The Royal A&P Show of New Zealand, hosted by the Canterbury A&P Association, is back next month, bigger and better after the uncertainty of last year.
Claims that farmers are polluters of waterways and aquifers and 'don't care' still ring out from environmental groups and individuals. The phrase 'dirty dairying' continues to surface from time to time. But as reporter Peter Burke points out, quite the opposite is the case. He says, quietly and behind the scenes, farmers are embracing new ideas and technologies to make their farms sustainable, resilient, environmentally friendly and profitable.