Manufacturing sales drop to 10-year low

Photo / Dean Purcell

The volume of manufacturing sales fell 1.8 per cent in the June 2010 quarter, Statistics New Zealand said today.

"Manufacturing sales volumes are now at their lowest level for over 10 years," business statistics manager Louise Holmes-Oliver said.

Falls were recorded for 10 of the 15 industries, while four rose and one was flat. The other food industry, which includes seafood, and fruit and vegetables had the largest decrease, down 5.7 per cent.

The top five contributors to the fall in manufacturing also included the meat and dairy; textiles and apparel; beverages, malt, and tobacco; and the structural, sheet, and fabricated metal industries. Partly offsetting these falls was a 15.1 per cent rise in the basic metal industry.

Excluding the meat and dairy industry, the volume of sales fell 3.6 per cent in the latest quarter.

The trend indicates the volume of manufacturing has been falling since the September 2007 quarter, apart from two quarters in late 2009 that were flat.

In current prices, the seasonally adjusted value of sales increased 3.1 per cent, driven by a 13.9 per cent increase in the meat and dairy industry. Excluding the meat and dairy industry, the value of sales fell 2.2 per cent.

Most of the industries in this group recorded decreased sales.

-HERALD ONLINE