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Meat and dairy products drove the fall in manufacturing sales for the June 2013 quarter, Statistics New Zealand says. The drought earlier this year appears to have contributed to the fall.
After adjusting for seasonal effects the volume of total manufacturing sales fell 3.4%. This fall was led by a 10% decrease in meat and dairy product manufacturing.
"The volume decrease in meat and dairy product manufacturing is reflected in the fall of export volumes for dairy and meat products," industry and labour statistics manager Blair Cardno says.
Overseas Trade Indexes (Volumes): June 2013 quarter (provisional) reported decreases of 18% in dairy exports and 7.1% in meat exports.
"Without the meat and dairy contribution, the volume of manufacturing sales was flat in the June 2013 quarter," Cardno says.
The trend for the total manufacturing sales volume, which gives a longer-term picture of movements, also reflects the impact of meat and dairy product manufacturing.
"Both the total manufacturing trend and the meat and dairy trend, which were rising during 2012, have fallen this year," Cardno says.
Nine of the other 12 manufacturing industries recorded falls in the June quarter. The other main movements were:
• chemical, polymer, and rubber product manufacturing, up 6%
• petroleum and coal product manufacturing, down 5.2%
In current prices, the total manufacturing sales value fell 2% ($455 million) to a seasonally adjusted $22.3 billion.
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