Meat and dairy drives large manufacturing sales rise

Meat and dairy drives large manufacturing sales rise – Media release

The total manufacturing sales volume had a record rise in the December 2013 quarter, Statistics New Zealand said today. This was largely due to a strong rise in meat and dairy product manufacturing.

After adjusting for seasonal effects, the volume of total manufacturing sales rose 5.7 percent, with meat and dairy product manufacturing sales up 15 percent.

"The large meat and dairy volume increase is also seen in export volume rises for dairy and meat products," industry and labour statistics manager Blair Cardno said.

Overseas Trade Indexes (Volumes): December 2013 quarter (provisional) reported increases of 23 percent in dairy exports and 5.5 percent in meat exports.

"However, it's not all about meat and dairy, with other manufacturing industries also continuing to show increases," Mr Cardno said.

The sales volume for total manufacturing, excluding meat and dairy, was up 0.9 percent in the December 2013 quarter, following a 2.9 percent increase in the September quarter. Sales for eight of the other 12 manufacturing industries rose.

The main industry movements were:
• transport equipment, and machinery and equipment manufacturing, up 5.9 percent
• fruit, oil, cereal, and other food manufacturing, up 5.0 percent.

The trend for the total manufacturing sales volume, which gives a longer-term picture of movements, is now rising – following a low point in the June 2013 quarter.

In current prices, the total manufacturing sales value rose 6.3 percent ($1.5 billion). Meat and dairy product manufacturing increased 18 percent ($1.3 billion), with dairy prices remaining at high levels.

ENDS

For more information about these statistics:

• Visit Economic Survey of Manufacturing: December 2013 quarter
• Open the attached files
EconomicSurveyofManufacturingDec13qtrHOTP.pdf
esmdec2013qtrtables.xls

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