New Zealand posted a merchandise trade surplus of NZ$103 million in May, Statistics New Zealand said on Tuesday - representing 2.1 percent of exports.
The headline figure was shy of expectations for a surplus of NZ$419 million and down from the downwardly revised NZ$536 million a month earlier (originally NZ$578 million).
Exports were up 8.7 percent on year to NZ$4.95 billion - beating forecasts for NZ$4.93 billion and up from NZ$4.70 billion.
Exports of milk powder, butter, and cheese rose NZ$342 million (42 percent), while meat and edible offal rose NZ$30 million (4.5 percent).
Goods exports to China rose NZ$140 million (17 percent) and goods exports to Japan advanced NZ$96 million (34 percent).
Imports jumped an annual 15.0 percent to NZ$4.85 billion versus expectations for NZ$4.48 billion and up from NZ$4.16 billion.
Imported intermediate goods rose NZ$435 million (26 percent), while consumption goods rose NZ$65 million (5.8 percent).
Capital goods fell NZ$22 million (2.3 percent), while passenger motor cars gained NZ$87 million (23 percent) and petrol and avgas rose NZ$62 million (91 percent).
Goods imports from Australia climbed NZ$118 million (24 percent) and goods imports from China spiked NZ$101 million (13 percent).
The annual trade deficit widened to NZ$3.8 billion from NZ$3.6 billion in April 2017. The trade weighted index rose 3.6 percent from May 2016.
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