Meat and dairy products lead manufacturing rise

 

Meat and dairy products dominated the rise in total manufacturing sales for the September 2012 quarter, Statistics New Zealand said today.

After adjusting for seasonal effects, the value of total manufacturing sales rose 1.6 percent ($370 million), led by the 9.3 percent ($612 million) increase in meat and dairy product manufacturing.

When price changes are removed, the volume of manufacturing sales rose 2.6 percent, also led by meat and dairy product manufacturing, up 13 percent.

"The volume increase in meat and dairy manufacturing is reflected in the rise of export volumes for dairy and meat products, with increases of 32 percent in dairy, and 15 percent in meat," industry and labour statistics manager Blair Cardno said.

"Looking at the longer-term picture, the trend for manufacturing volumes has risen in the past year."

Without the meat and dairy industry contribution, the volume of manufacturing sales fell 1.4 percent in the September quarter.

"Despite this, the trend for sales volume, excluding the meat and dairy industry, has remained relatively flat for the last three years," Mr Cardno said.

Eight of the other 12 manufacturing industries recorded falls in the September quarter. The other main movements this quarter were:

• metal product manufacturing, down 6.9 percent
• chemical, polymer, and rubber product manufacturing, up 7.3 percent.