Total seasonally adjusted manufacturing sales volumes squeaked higher in the March quarter, the first rise in 15 months.
The sales volumes for the March quarter were up 0.2% from the previous three months, Statistics New Zealand (SNZ) said today.
The rise was due to a 23.1% increase in volumes for meat and dairy products. The only two other industries with increases were petroleum and industrial chemicals, and beverages, malt and tobacco.
Of the 12 industries to record declines in seasonally adjusted sales volumes in the March quarter, nine were recording their second - or more - consecutive quarterly decrease, SNZ said.
In the latest quarter, the largest fall was in transport equipment, which dropped 32.7%. The other food category fell 9.1%, while structural, sheet and fabricated metal products dropped 12.7%.
Despite the small rise in volumes, the seasonally adjusted value of manufacturing sales fell 0.9% or $179 million from the previous quarter, the third fall in four quarters.
Decreases in sales occurred in all but two of the 15 industries covered by the figures, with five industries recording falls in sales of more than $100m, SNZ said.
The falls were led by transport equipment manufacturing, which fell 23.6% or $175m. Structural, sheet and fabricated metal products were next, down 9.7% or $129m, followed by wood products, down 11.3% or $125m.
Offsetting the falls was a 10.9%, or $709m, rise in meat and dairy product sales.
Stocks of finished goods for all manufacturing industries, which are not seasonally adjusted, were up 2.8% in volume for the March quarter compared with a year earlier. Stock values were up 9.3% or $822m.
Excluding meat and dairy products, sales volumes were down 6.5%, while sales values were down 5.5% or $798m, the largest recorded fall in values since the series started in 1992.
The rise in meat and dairy product manufacturing volumes followed four quarters of volume falls during 2008, which was the only time that had happened since the series started, SNZ said.
The rise in volumes was mostly due to increased dairy product export volumes, which rose 14%, while meat exports fell 0.9%.
While prices for dairy product manufacturing fell sharply in the March quarter, a large volume increase resulted in the $709m rise in sales values.
