WELLINGTON, Oct. 9 (Xinhua) -- New Zealand's food and fiber exports reached a record 65.2 billion NZ dollars (36.6 billion U.S. dollars) in the year to June 30, up 8 percent from a year earlier, a senior official said Friday.
The result was 4.8 billion NZ dollars higher than the previous year and exceeded the Ministry for Primary Industries' June forecast of 64.3 billion NZ dollars, Agriculture and Forestry Minister Todd McClay said in a statement.
"The Middle East conflict and trade policies in some key markets have disrupted supply chains and pushed up inflation and input costs," McClay was quoted as saying.
Strong demand for New Zealand's food and fiber products, along with tight global supply, supported prices, McClay said.
Dairy export revenue rose 6 percent to 28.8 billion NZ dollars, while meat and wool exports increased 20 percent to 14.8 billion NZ dollars. Horticulture export revenue grew 5 percent to 9.3 billion NZ dollars, statistics showed.
In the year to June 30, food and fiber exports rose 20 percent to 5.3 billion NZ dollars to the European Union, 11 percent to 1.1 billion NZ dollars to the United Arab Emirates, and 24 percent to 541 million NZ dollars to India, ahead of a bilateral free trade agreement with India taking effect on Oct. 20, McClay said.
The government is targeting a doubling of the value of New Zealand's exports by 2034, he added. (1 NZ dollar equals 0.56 U.S. dollar) ■