Wholesale trade declines in autumn

Wholesale trade sales fell in the June 2012 quarter, Statistics New Zealand said today. This follows two positive quarters in which the sales grew almost $1 billion.

Wholesale trade sales, after adjusting for seasonal effects, fell 1.4 percent ($294 million) in the June 2012 quarter.

"The machinery and equipment industry had the only increase this quarter. All other industries had lower quarterly sales," industry and labour statistics manager Blair Cardno said.

The biggest fall was in grocery, liquor, and tobacco wholesaling, where sales fell 1.6 percent ($105 million).

The trend for total wholesale sales has generally been rising since mid-2009. However, during the year to the June 2012 quarter the rate of increase has slowed.

The seasonally adjusted value of stocks was $9.0 billion at 30 June 2012, up 3.8 percent ($326 million) from 31 March 2012.

See also:  Wholesale Trade Survey: June 2012 quarter  –  Information release