Meat and dairy pull manufacturing sales down

The seasonally adjusted total manufacturing sales volume decreased 1.0 percent in the June 2008 quarter, mostly due to a fall in the meat and dairy product manufacturing industry, Statistics New Zealand said today. The fall in the meat and dairy volume was 9.4 percent ($355 million), and followed two quarters of rises.

For total manufacturing, excluding meat and dairy product manufacturing, the sales volume in the June 2008 quarter rose 1.8 percent, with basic metal manufacturing contributing half of this rise, up 22 percent ($103 million). The other main increases were for the transport equipment manufacturing industry, up 11 percent ($59 million), and the petroleum and industrial chemical manufacturing industry, up 10 percent ($56 million). The main decrease was for the wood product manufacturing industry, down 3.8 percent ($37 million).

Seasonally adjusted total manufacturing sales were relatively flat in the June 2008 quarter, down 0.6 percent, following an increase of 3.0 percent in the March 2008 quarter. These are higher movements than for sales volumes and reflect the impact of price increases. Excluding the meat and dairy manufacturing industry, sales increased 3.1 percent in the June 2008 quarter, and decreased 0.2 percent in the March 2008 quarter.

The manufacturing sales trend continues to rise. However, the rate of increase appears to have eased in the June 2008 quarter, following relatively strong increases in the September 2007 to March 2008 quarters.