Wholesale trade sales down

Seasonally adjusted total wholesale trade sales decreased 2.3 percent ($526 million) for the December 2008 quarter, Statistics New Zealand said today. This is the second consecutive quarterly fall in total sales, after a 1.0 percent ($237 million) decrease in the September 2008 quarter.

Part of the sales decrease this quarter was due to a reclassification of some activity from primary product food wholesaling to manufacturing.

The largest contributors to this quarter's decrease were falls in metal and mineral wholesaling, down 19.1 percent ($197 million); electrical and electronic equipment wholesaling, down 11.4 percent ($121 million); and primary product food wholesaling, down 5.0 percent ($100 million).

The total wholesale trade sales trend has fallen 2.6 percent since June 2008, following a five-year period of general increases averaging 1.5 percent per quarter.

Seasonally adjusted wholesale stocks for the December 2008 quarter fell 3.8 percent ($444 million), mostly due to falls in petroleum product wholesaling (down $669 million), and motor vehicle wholesaling (down $225 million).