22 articles
Beef + Lamb New Zealand’s stock survey for the year to 30 June 2026 puts the national beef herd at 3.96 million head, up 3.3 percent, while sheep numbers fell 2 percent to 22.78 million.
Christchurch City Holdings is committing about $300 million of public capital to an $821 million Lyttelton container expansion after rejecting a DP World–rūnanga operating lease, pairing seismic resilience with a prospective bet on dual large-ship berths and design capacity near 850,000 TEU by 2031.
Thai Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul’s 20–22 August Auckland visit will launch a New Zealand–Thailand Strategic Partnership. For dairy exporters, the real test is whether Milk Board rationing of zero-tariff access ends.
New Zealand recorded 201,900 overseas visitor arrivals in June 2026, up 8.1 per cent on a year earlier and equal to 95 per cent of June 2019 levels, Stats NZ figures show.
Zespri has filed a US lawsuit seeking refund of multi-million-dollar tariffs it paid as importer of record after the Supreme Court struck down President Trump’s IEEPA duties.
The Environmental Protection Authority cut its hazardous-substances release queue by more than a third in 2025/26 and posted the highest annual decision total since 2018/19, yet missed Statement of Performance Expectations targets on complex applications.
Global whey powder prices rose 76% year-on-year in June, Rabobank data show, as New Zealand processors expand high-value protein capacity on the back of proteinmaxxing demand and GLP-1 weight-loss drugs.
An independent Fast-track panel has approved Ngāi Tahu Seafood’s Hananui open-ocean king salmon farm off Rakiura, the first aquaculture consent under the 2024 Act and a material step toward the Government’s $3 billion aquaculture revenue target by 2035.
Overseas investors secured consents for more than $24 billion in New Zealand transactions through the Overseas Investment Office in the 2025/26 year, transferring 106,000 hectares of land.
New Zealand and Switzerland have launched a Trade and Investment Dialogue, marking the first delivery on the National-led government's pledge to pursue deals with seven priority markets within five years.
New Zealand exporters now face a permanent 12.5% additional tariff on most goods shipped to the United States after the expiry of a temporary surcharge on 24 July 2026. The measure under Section 301 of the US Trade Act of 1974 applies to 54 economies including New Zealand and leaves key sectors exposed despite exemptions for kiwifruit and beef that cover roughly 30% of the annual flow.
Trade Minister Todd McClay said New Zealand expects US tariffs on its exports to return to 12.5 percent during the week of 21 July 2026.
The Government will direct $5 million from the International Visitor Levy into one-off marketing and business events programmes for the 2026/27 year to accelerate tourism's return toward pre-pandemic levels.
The New Zealand Institute of Economic Research states that the free trade agreement with India functions primarily as strategic positioning in a fragmented global economy rather than an immediate export booster.
New Zealand forestry exports totalled $6.28 billion in the year ended December 2025, forming the starting point for a government target to double primary sector export value within a decade at a required 7.2 percent compound annual growth rate.
The government is investing $59 million across six projects under the Primary Sector Growth Fund, leveraging $84 million in private contributions for a total $143 million package announced at Fieldays.
The US Trade Representative has proposed 12.5 percent additional tariffs on all New Zealand goods, layered on the existing 10 percent blanket rate, because New Zealand has failed to ban imports of products made with forced labour.
Budget 2026 confirms $4.77 billion in baseline funding over four years for the Ministry for Primary Industries. The allocation supports New Zealand's food and fibre sector as exports head for a record $62 billion this year.
New Zealand's integrated fibre industry reached more than $926 million at the farm gate in the first comprehensive assessment of wool, harakeke, hemp, hides, mohair and biomaterials.
The Meat Industry Association has appointed Nick Beeby as chief executive effective 1 July 2026. Beeby succeeds Sirma Karapeeva and takes the role at a time when New Zealand red meat and fifth-quarter exports reached a record $11.7 billion in calendar 2025.
Kotahi's 4,000 TEU of dairy, meat and horticulture cargo stranded by the Strait of Hormuz closure shows how New Zealand's geography converts geopolitical shocks into sustained higher costs for primary exporters.
New Zealand's foreign investment screening regime changed materially on 6 March 2026, when the Overseas Investment (National Interest Test and Other Matters) Amendment Act 2025 took effect, replacing the previous benefit-to-New-Zealand test with a single, risk-based national interest test for most transactions.
