New Zealand's export commodity prices saw their second consecutive monthly rise in April, up 2.5% in world price terms from March, the ANZ Commodity price index showed.

The rise in April was the largest monthly rise in nearly two years, ANZ economist Steve Edwards said, but it must be kept in mind the index is only just off its recent low in February. The index was still down 29.5% from April last year.

The index price for the meat, skins and wool category rose 5% from March, while aluminium prices rose 6.6%. Dairy prices rose 3.1%, but were still down more than 50% from a year ago.

However, despite the rise of the index in world prices, in New Zealand dollar terms, the index fell 2.8% from March, led by falls in horticultural product prices (down 7.5%) and seafood prices (down 9.5%). This was because recent strength in the NZ dollar "outstripped" the rise in world commodity prices. The Kiwi rose 5.5% over the month on a trade weighted basis, and 7.4% against the US dollar.