-
Related
Manufacturing sales volumes fell a seasonally adjusted 1.4% in the September quarter led by a 7.1% fall in meat and dairy manufacturing, Statistics New Zealand says.
Signs of growth showed up in some other industries with wood product manufacturing volumes up 9.1%, compared to the June quarter, and basic metal manufacturing volumes up 21.5%, although machinery and equipment manufacturing fell 4.4%.
The overall fall in volumes followed a rise of 1.5% in the June quarter.
On a value basis, seasonally adjusted manufacturing sales fell 5.1% or $1 billion from the June quarter.
That was the fourth consecutive quarterly fall in the value of sales, lowering them to the level last seen in early 2007, Statistics New Zealand says.
Driving the latest fall in values was a 15.8% or $1.01 billion drop in sales values for meat and dairy product manufacturing, mainly due to lower prices for dairy products.
Basic metal manufacturing values were up 14.6% or $85 million, petroleum and industrial chemical manufacturing fell 8.8%t or $68 million, machinery and equipment manufacturing fell 4% or $66 million, and transport equipment manufacturing rose 11.7% or $65 million.
Stocks of finished goods, which are not seasonally adjusted, fell 8.7% in volume compared to a year earlier, while stock values fell 14.9% or $1.2 billion from September 2008.
Excluding meat and dairy, the volume of sales rose a seasonally adjusted 1% in the September quarter compared to the June quarter. That followed falls in the previous six quarters that reduced the volume to the lowest level in 15 years. The value of sales was down 0.8% or $107 million, the fifth consecutive quarterly fall.
The volume of finished goods stocks, excluding meat and dairy, fell 10.5% from a year earlier, while the value fell 8.3% to $5.2 billion.
Statistics New Zealand says the fall in the volume of meat and dairy sales in the latest quarter, came after rises totalling 28.4% in the previous two quarters.
The fall in the volume of machinery and equipment sales took the
sector to its lowest level in almost 11 years.
