Meat and dairy dampen manufacturing sales

Meat and dairy dampen manufacturing sales

The meat and dairy product manufacturing industry dominated the seasonally adjusted total manufacturing sales decrease of 2.1 percent for the September 2007 quarter, Statistics New Zealand said today. This industry decreased 6.0 percent compared with the June 2007 quarter, its largest fall since the June 2005 quarter.

Manufacturing sales at December 1997 quarter prices (reflecting volume changes) decreased 4.2 percent during the September 2007 quarter, only the second decline in the past two years and the largest since the start of the series. Again meat and dairy product manufacturing led the decrease with a volume fall of 12.1 percent.

The manufacturing sales trend has flattened in the past year, since the September 2006 quarter.

This follows a period of general growth between the June 2003 and September 2006 quarters of 16.1 percent. With the exclusion of the meat and dairy product manufacturing industry, the manufacturing sector recorded a decrease of 0.8 percent, following consecutive rises for the March and June 2007 quarters. Structural, sheet and fabricated metal product manufacturing led the decrease, partially offset by an increase for the transport equipment manufacturing industry.

ENDS

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