By Jenny Ruth May 30 (BusinessDesk) - Fonterra shares and units have fallen to record lows after the dairy giant said total New Zealand milk production fell 10 percent in April from a year ago and Australian production fell 10 percent in March. Fonterra Co-operative shares,...

By Gavin Evans May 30 (BusinessDesk) - Wood is a viable industrial fuel but greater effort may be needed to ensure that new demand from processors doesn’t strip supplies from existing users, Fonterra says. Co-firing the firm’s Brightwater milk powder plant near Nelson on a...

By Gavin Evans May 29 (BusinessDesk) - Industry must demonstrate its ability to innovate and respond to climate challenge if it is to maintain the support of the voting public, Regional Economic Development Minister Shane Jones says. New Zealand First is not going to allow...

(Updates story throughout with further details and comment) By Jenny Ruth May 29 (BusinessDesk) - Reserve Bank governor Adrian Orr is less concerned about housing loans but is still fretting about a third of dairy debt and is also flagging the rapid growth in lending to the...

By Gavin Evans May 29 (BusinessDesk) - Lithium resources in the Taupo volcanic zone are potentially economic but may require conventional open-cast mining techniques if they are to be developed, delegates at the New Zealand Minerals Forum heard. The presence of lithium – a...

By Pattrick Smellie May 27 (BusinessDesk) - Beef and sheepmeat exporter ANZCO says sales in the Japanese frozen beef trade are recovering, thanks to tariff reductions for New Zealand produce under the Comprehensive and Progressive Trans-Pacific Partnership that allows local pr...

By Rebecca Howard May 28 (BusinessDesk) - Synlait Milk lifted its forecast milk price for the season that just ended on higher global dairy prices and is positive about the season starting in June. The Rakaia-based milk producer raised its forecast base milk price for the 2...

By Rebecca Howard May 24 (BusinessDesk) - Annual exports to China jumped 22 percent in April to top $15 billion for the first time, amid growing demand for beef, lamb, logs and dairy products.  Exports to China now account for about a quarter of New Zealand's international...

By Rebecca Howard May 24 (BusinessDesk) - Fonterra Co-operative Group's profit downgrade doesn't impact its rating but increases the importance of its asset sales, Fitch Ratings says. Fonterra yesterday cited "heightened risks" in the fourth quarter to the co-op’s previous...

(Adds detail throughout, comment from economist on payout forecast)  By Rebecca Howard May 23 (BusinessDesk) -  Fonterra Cooperative Group narrowed the range for its forecast payout to farmers this season, cut its earnings guidance and says it may sell more assets as it sli...

By Paul McBeth May 23 (BusinessDesk) - Zespri Group says annual profit rose 77 percent as the fruit export marketer benefited from growing global sales of kiwifruit and bigger fees from the licensing of the SunGold variety.  The firm, which markets kiwifruit on behalf of 2,...

By Gavin Evans May 23 (BusinessDesk) - Fishing company Sanford reported an 8 percent decline in first-half operating earnings after the death of a crew member kept one of its deep water vessels in port for three months. The company today reported adjusted earnings before in...

By Rebecca Howard May 22 (BusinessDesk) - Westland Milk Products farmers will bank - on average - $572,000 from the sale of their shares to Inner Mongolia Yili Industrial Group if the deal goes ahead, says ANZ Bank New Zealand. Westland signed a conditional agreement to sel...

By Margreet Dietz May 22 (BusinessDesk) - Dairy product prices fell at the Global Dairy Trade auction, ending a record string of 11 consecutive gains, as whole milk powder declined for the fourth straight time. The GDT price index fell 1.2 percent from the previous auction...

By Gavin Evans May 20 (BusinessDesk) - Grape grower Terra Vitae has warned earnings will be reduced by a poor harvest. The company, which has vineyards in Marlborough and Hawke’s Bay, says that subject to final pricing, including extra payments for reserve grade wines, it w...

By Gavin Evans May 20 (BusinessDesk) - Scales Corp says full-year operating earnings from its reshaped business may rise as much as 13 percent. The agri-business, which last year sold its cold stores and liquid storage operation to expand its petfood interests, expects unde...

By Rebecca Howard May 16 (BusinessDesk) - Synlait Milk said the registration process required to launch Munchkin Inc’s Grass Fed infant formula in the US has been put on hold to allow the company to look at other options.  Synlait "has been informed that the clinical study...

By Rebecca Howard May 16 (BusinessDesk) -  With just over a fortnight to go, the country's current milk season looks to have been a good - but not stellar - year for processors as dry weather at the tail end crimped production.  Production was initially very strong on the b...

By Gavin Evans May 14 (BusinessDesk) - Rural Equities, the farming group majority-owned by the Cushing family, has agreed to sell its second-largest property as it rejigs its portfolio. Puketotara, a beef and sheep finishing operation near Huntly, covers 1,146 hectares and...

(Updates to add CEO comment throughout, comment from New Zealand First)  By Rebecca Howard May 13 (BusinessDesk) - Global ice cream company Froneri has bought Fonterra Cooperative Group's Tip Top for $380 million, ending a six-month sale process.  The price was about $10...

By Jenny Ruth May 13 (BusinessDesk) - Synlait Milk has landed itself in a right pickle after a Court of Appeal judgment that renders its new Pokeno factory in breach of covenants restricting use of that land to grazing, lifestyle farming and forestry. Synlait jumped the gun...

(Updates throughout to add further comments from Synlait and from the Court of Appeal judgment.) By Jenny Ruth May 10 (BusinessDesk) - Synlait Milk says it is confident it can find a solution to the ownership problem now afflicting most of the land on which its new Pokeno f...