Meat and dairy bolster manufacturing sales volumes

Total manufacturing seasonally adjusted sales volumes were flat in the March 2009 quarter (up 0.2percent), bolstered by a 23.1 percent rise from meat and dairy product manufacturing, Statistics NewZealand said today.

However, excluding the meat and dairy product manufacturing industry, totalmanufacturing sales volumes fell 6.5 percent, the largest recorded fall since the current series began inJune 1994. Sales volumes for this sub-industry have been falling since the June 2008 quarter.

Of the 15 published manufacturing industries, 12 recorded sales volume falls from the previous quarter.Transport equipment manufacturing (down 32.7 percent) led the falls, followed by other food manufacturing(down 9.1 percent), and structural, sheet and fabricated metal product manufacturing (down 12.7 percent).Seasonally adjusted total manufacturing sales decreased by 0.9 percent ($179 million).

Excluding the meatand dairy product manufacturing industry, total manufacturing sales were down 5.5 percent ($798 million). Decreases in seasonally adjusted sales occurred in all but two industries, with five recording sales declinesof more than $100 million.

Again, transport equipment manufacturing led the decrease (down $175 million),followed by structural, sheet and fabricated metal product manufacturing (down $129 million). Apart frommeat and dairy product manufacturing, the only other industry to record an increase was beverage, maltand tobacco manufacturing (up $22 million).

Since the September 2007 quarter, the trend for total manufacturing volumes showed an average quarterlyfall of 1.6 percent. However, the trend's rate of decline has increased to 2.4 percent in the last year.Excluding the meat and dairy product manufacturing industry, total manufacturing volumes showed anaverage quarterly fall of 3.9 percent since March 2008.

Geoff Bascand
Government Statistician
15 June 2009
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See also the Hot Off The Press information release Economic Survey of Manufacturing: March 2009 quarter