Steady rise for wholesale trade

 Seasonally adjusted total wholesale trade sales for the September 2007 quarter increased 2.1 percent,Statistics New Zealand said today.

This follows a similar increase of 2.3 percent in June 2007.

Food and grocery products wholesaling recorded the largest increase for the September 2007 quarter, up3.6 percent (or $143 million), while the most notable decrease was recorded in the builders' supplieswholesaling industry, down 2.2 percent (or $38 million).

The total wholesale trade sales trend has been steadily increasing, up by 11.5 percent since a smalldecrease in the December 2005 quarter.

Seasonally adjusted wholesale stocks for the September 2007 quarter fell 1.3 percent following a 1.8percent rise in the June 2007 quarter