11 December 2012

2 minute read

Oceania

According to Statistics New Zealand, meat and dairy products dominated the rise in total manufacturing sales for the September 2012 quarter.

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

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

"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 per cent in dairy, and 15 per cent 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 per cent 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 per cent
• chemical, polymer, and rubber product manufacturing, up 7.3 per cent.

Meat and dairy product manufacturing volumes rise

This latest rise reflects increases in the volume of meat and dairy products exported as reported in the Overseas Trade Indexes (Volumes): September 2012 quarter (provisional), where dairy exports rose 32 per cent and meat exports rose 15 per cent.

The value of sales also increased, up 9.3 per cent ($612 million), following falls in the two previous quarters. This increase highlights the higher volumes of meat and dairy products sold, even though the prices of manufactured dairy products fell 10 per cent, and prices of manufactured meat products fell 2.9 per cent, as reported in the Producers Price Index: September 2012 quarter.

The trend indicates that the volume of meat and dairy product manufacturing has risen over the last three quarters after a relatively flat period during 2011.

TheCattleSite News Desk