Manufacturing activity up but sales down

After adjusting for seasonal effects, manufacturing activity (measured by sales volumes) rose in the June 2009 quarter, Statistics New Zealand said today. However, as a result of lower prices, the value of sales fell.

The volume of manufacturing sales rose 1.8 percent in the June 2009 quarter. This follows a flat March 2009 quarter and falls totalling 9.3 percent during 2008. The main contributor to the latest rise was the meat and dairy product manufacturing industry, which rose 7.4 percent in sales volume.

Excluding meat and dairy product manufacturing, the total sales volume would show a fall of 2.8 percent. Eight of the 15 industries recorded falls in sales volume for the June 2009 quarter, with the largest falls being for machinery and equipment manufacturing, and non-metallic mineral product manufacturing.

Although the total volume of manufacturing sales rose in the June 2009 quarter, the value fell by 4.8 percent ($986 million). Lower prices for meat and dairy products, resulting in a $633 million drop in the value of meat and dairy product manufacturing, were the main cause of this fall.

The trend for the volume of manufacturing sales is flat for the June 2009 quarter, after five quarters of decline. The trend for the sales value shows a decline for the latest two quarters.