For the first month in almost 34 years, no crude oil was imported into New Zealand in July 2020, with imports of cars and other vehicles also down, the country's statistics department Stats NZ said on Wednesday.
The value of total merchandise goods imports fell 18 percent to 4.6 billion NZ dollars in July 2020, Stats NZ said.
In the past three months, total imports have been very low, while exports have been holding up, leading to the smallest annual trade deficit since the October 2014 year, it said.
Of New Zealand's main trading partners, imports from the European Union had the biggest fall in July 2020, with aircraft and parts leading the fall, which was down 89 percent, international statistics manager Darren Allan said in a statement.
Imports from the United States fell 76 million NZ dollars, led by machinery and equipment, such as turbo-jet and turbo propeller parts, Allan said.
However, goods imports from China were up 108 million NZ dollars, or 10 percent, year on year, with electrical machinery and equipment such as mobile phones leading the rises, statistics show.
Exports of dairy, crude oil, fish, and other seafood fell in July 2020, which was largely offset by a sharp rise in exports of live animals, with mainly 30,000 live dairy cattle exported to China in July 2020, and breathing equipment, which is in demand internationally because of COVID-19, Allan said.
More than one-quarter of New Zealand's breathing equipment exports were to the United States, he said.
Crude oil imports have been much lower than usual since May 2020 as demand dropped due to COVID-19. International travel restrictions and the COVID-19 lockdown in April meant far fewer people travelled by road or air, the statement said.
"The last time no crude oil was imported in a single month was in August 1986, a year when international demand for oil fell and prices dropped sharply," Allan said.
Car imports have been much lower than usual since April 2020, when the COVID-19 Alert Level 4 lockdown meant car dealers were closed as a non-essential business, he said.
Face mask imports increased sharply this year as the COVID-19 global pandemic spread and New Zealand moved into lockdown, he added.
New Zealand has imported 232 million NZ dollars' worth of face masks since the beginning of the year, up 189 million NZ dollars from 43 million NZ dollars for the same period last year. This includes all types of face masks, from surgical masks to painting and dust masks. (1 U.S. dollar = 1.52 New Zealand dollar)
Editor: Galia
