February 13, 2008

New Zealand's strong currency affecting seafood returns
 

The strong New Zealand dollar is straining the country's seafood industry and economy financially, said the New Zealand Seafood Industry Council's chief executive, Owen Symmans.

Symmans said the continued high dollar is stopping New Zealand from benefiting from the strong international seafood market prices.

Market prices for most export species have increased over the past year but despite so, the increased export return has been low, said Symmans.

He pointed that with 2007's exchange rate achieving over US$0.79 during the year, sales were worth NZ$1.25 billion (US$988 million) compared to NZ$1.35 billion in 2006 (US$1.06 billion), which means the industry's return falls about NZ$20 million (US$15.8 million) for each cent the NZ dollar strengthens.

Symmans said this pressure has huge implications for investment in the industry, research and development, and that it is worrying that they are not able to maximise investment and consolidation for the industry's future, as they could not profit from the current high seafood market rate.