Export prices for lamb reached their highest point on record in the June 2019 quarter, according to new Statistics NZ data.
This level is the highest since the series began in 1982, and follows steady increases from the second half of 2016.
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Overseas trade statistics manager Darren Allan said it isn't just lamb fetching good prices.
"Both lamb and beef prices rose this quarter, up 4.7 percent and 5.3 percent, respectively, on the back of strong overseas demand," he said,
Seasonally adjusted meat volumes fell 3.1 percent, with lamb volumes down 8.7 percent.
Both meat and dairy products pushed total export prices up 3.4 percent in the June 2019 quarter compared with the March 2019 quarter.
Dairy product prices rose 11 percent in the June 2019 quarter, with prices for milk powder up 11 percent, butter up 13 percent, and cheese up 3.1 percent.
Overall export volumes, adjusted for seasonal effects, fell 2.6 percent in the June 2019 quarter. Dairy volumes fell 9.3 percent following an 18 percent rise in the March 2019 quarter.
Seasonally adjusted volumes for forestry products also fell in the June 2019 quarter, down 1.9 percent.
Prices for forestry products were the only major export commodity to fall in the June 2019 quarter, down 1.7 percent.
"While there was a slight dip in prices for forestry products in the June quarter, this continued into July, as seen in overseas merchandise trade data," Allan said.
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