Wholesale trade rises in second quarter

Wholesale trade rises in second quarter, boosted by groceries, liquor, tobacco

By Suze Metherell

Sept. 5 (BusinessDesk) - Wholesale trade rose in the second quarter, after a fall in the first three months of the year, as sales of groceries, liquor and tobacco products picked up.

Seasonly adjusted total sales rose 1.8 percent in the three months ended June 30, after a fall of 0.2 percent in the first quarter, Statistics New Zealand said. In unadjusted terms the total value of wholesale trade sales was $21.9 billion, up 5.9 percent from the same quarter a year earlier.

According to the government statistician there are nearly 17,700 businesses within the wholesale trade industry, which act as an intermediary between the manufacturer and the consumer. The survey feeds into the national accounts and gross domestic product calculations. The broader trend for wholesale trade has advanced some 23 percent since September 2009, signalling a pick up in the New Zealand economy as it began to emmerge from the global financial crisis.

Grocery, liquor and tobacco product wholesaling, which includes wholesale and export merchants that trade in meat, dairy, seafood, fresh produce, liquor and tobacco products, rose a seasonally adjusted 2.6 percent in the quarter to $6.5 million in sales, ahead of the 0.3 percent gain in the previous quarter. Sales rose 5 percent compared to the same quarter a year earlier.

Machinery and equipment, which includes businesses trading in consumer electronics, phones, professional and scientific equipment and agricultural machinery, rose 3.2 percent to $4.5 million in the quarter, compared with a 4.3 percent decline in the first quarter. It rose 3.1 percent on an annual basis.

Basic material sales rose 1.2 percent in the quarter, and have gained 11.6 percent year-on-year. Motor vehicle and motor-vehicle parts sales rose 1.7 percent quarterly, and 12.2 percent on an annual basis. Sales of other goods rose 1.2 percent and slipped 0.1 percent in the year. Commission-based sales rose a quarterly 5.6 percent, for an annual gain of 7.9 percent.

(BusinessDesk)

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