KEY POINTS:
A 9.7 per cent rise in electricity generation and supply was the most significant factor in a 1.2 per cent rise in producers' output prices in the June quarter.
Figures out today from Statistics New Zealand (SNZ) show the quarterly rise in the producers price index output prices was the highest for a year, following two quarters when the index declined.
Higher spot market prices for electricity drove the rise in the electricity generation and supply outputs index, SNZ.
Despite the rise for the quarter, the electricity generation and supply output index fell 4.6 per cent in the year to the June quarter, compared with a rise of 25.3 per cent in the year to the June 2006 quarter.
Partly offsetting the overall rise in output prices was a 4.4 per cent fall in meat and meat product manufacturing in the June quarter.
Lower export prices for beef cuts were cited as the main reason for the fall, SNZ said.
For the year to the June quarter, the PPI outputs index rose 1.5 per cent, following rises of 5.6 per cent in the year to June 2006 and 2.9 per cent in the year to June 2005.
The PPI inputs index rose 1.3 per cent in the June quarter, with the wholesale trade index up 3.4 per cent, mainly driven by increased prices in the mineral, metal and chemical wholesaling sector.
From the June 2006 quarter to the June 2007 quarter, the wholesale trade input prices index fell 1.7 per cent, following a 20.9 per cent rise in the year to the June 2006 quarter.
The largest downward contribution to the PPI inputs index in the June quarter came from the meat and meat product manufacturing index, which was down 3.7 per cent, with the main driver being lower wholesale prices for livestock, particularly bulls.
Between the June 2006 and June 2007 quarters input prices rose 1.2 per cent.
Among commodities, the framing timber index rose 9.9 per cent in June due to higher suppliers' prices for undressed sawn timber. It is the largest quarterly increase since the series started in 1994. For the year the timber framing index rose 8.5 per cent.
- NZPA
