Dry Winter Pushes up Electricity Prices for Producers

Dry Winter Pushes up Electricity Prices for Producers

Higher electricity and farm-gate milk prices contributed to rises in producer output and input prices, Stats NZ said today.

Overall, producer output prices (the prices producers get for their goods and services) rose 1.0 percent in the September 2017 quarter. Input prices (the costs producers pay) also rose 1.0 percent.

“The drier winter has meant lower-than-usual lake levels for many of the country’s hydroelectric power stations, which pushed up electricity generation costs,” business prices manager Sarah Williams said.

Electricity and gas producers saw their costs of production (input costs) rise 5.9 percent in the latest quarter, mostly due to higher electricity generation costs. In turn, they passed on a 5.3 percent rise in their output prices. Electricity prices paid by commercial businesses rose 6.8 percent in the September 2017 quarter.

In the latest quarter, the prices received by dairy cattle farmers rose 6.1 percent, the sixth quarter in a row they have increased; the prices paid by dairy product manufacturers rose 5.1 percent. Both price rises were influenced by higher forecasted farm-gate milk prices. An increase in sheep livestock prices (up 12 percent) influenced the input prices paid by meat and meat product manufacturers (up 4.8 percent).

In the year ended September 2017, output and input producers prices rose 5.3 percent and 4.3 percent, respectively.

The capital goods price index increased 2.9 percent in the year ended September 2017, mainly influenced by residential buildings (up 5.1 percent) and non-residential buildings (up 5.2 percent). The farm expenses price index increased 1.6 percent in the year.

For more information about these statistics:

• Visit Business Price Indexes: September 2017 quarter

• See CSV files for download

ENDS

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