Wellington, Jan 29 NZPA - Milk powder, butter, and cheese, and crude oil have dominated a 2.8 percent fall in exports to $9.2 billion in the December quarter, says Statistics New Zealand.

The overseas merchandise trade figures, seasonally adjusted and compared with the September 2009 quarter, were released today and showed a fourth consecutive quarterly decrease in exports.

Imports decreased 3.2 percent to $9.4b, the fifth consecutive quarterly decline, which was led by falls in capital and intermediate goods.

The trade balance for the December quarter was a deficit of $170 million, or 1.8 percent, of exports.

For the December 2009 month exports were down $433m, or 11.3 percent, to $3.4b on December 2008.

Milk powder, butter and cheese showed the largest decrease.

Imports decreased $776m, or 18.6 percent, to $3.4b, led by mechanical machinery and equipment, and vehicles, parts, and accessories.

The decline in the export and import trends appeared to have eased in recent months.

The trade balance for the month of December was a surplus of $2m, or 0.1 percent of exports.