Bakers prefer butter, helping prices soar
Consumers around the world are willing to pay more for products containing dairy and this is driving demand for butter and cream, says Fonterra.
After adjusting for seasonal effects, the value of total manufacturing sales rose 1.6% ($370 million), led by the 9.3% ($612 million) increase in meat and dairy product manufacturing.
When price changes are removed, the volume of manufacturing sales rose 2.6%, also led by meat and dairy product manufacturing, up 13%.
"The volume increase in meat and dairy manufacturing is reflected in the rise of export volumes for dairy and meat products, with increases of 32% in dairy, and 15% in meat," industry and labour statistics manager Blair Cardno says.
"Looking at the longer-term picture, the trend for manufacturing volumes has risen in the past year."
Without the meat and dairy industry contribution, the volume of manufacturing sales fell 1.4% in the September quarter.
"Despite this, the trend for sales volume, excluding the meat and dairy industry, has remained relatively flat for the last three years," Cardno says.
Eight of the other 12 manufacturing industries recorded falls in the September quarter. The other main movements this quarter were:
• metal product manufacturing, down 6.9%
• chemical, polymer, and rubber product manufacturing, up 7.3%
