Producers' output prices fell 0.7 per cent in the June quarter, while input prices remained unchanged, Statistics New Zealand (SNZ) says.
The dairy product manufacturing index, with a fall of 19.9 per cent, made the largest downward contribution to the outputs index in the latest quarter.
Lower prices for exported dairy products, such as whole milk powder, cheese, and butter were the main drivers of that fall, SNZ said.
For the inputs index, a 6.7 per cent fall in the sheet and fabricated metal product manufacturing index was the most significant downward contribution.
Lower prices for raw materials, the rise of the New Zealand dollar and lower demand due to worsening economic conditions, were cited as the main drivers of that fall.
Electricity generation and supply rose in both the outputs (up 11 per cent) and inputs (up 10.4 per cent) indexes in the latest quarter, SNZ said.
Higher spot market prices in the winter season were cited as the main reason for the price increases, while higher prices for natural gas, used in the generation of electricity, also contributed to the rise in the inputs price index.
In the year to June, the PPI (producers price index) outputs index rose 2.1 per cent while the PPI inputs index fell 1.2 per cent, the first annual fall in the inputs index since March 2004.
In another stats release this morning, Statistics NZ said the capital goods price index (CGPI) rose 0.3 per cent in the June quarter.
The most significant upward contribution came from the plant, machinery and equipment index, which was up 0.9 per cent.
An offsetting decrease of 1.1 per cent was recorded in the non-residential buildings index.
The second-largest upward contribution to the CGPI in the latest quarter was from transport equipment, which gained 1.4 per cent in the three months and rose 7.6 per cent in the year to June.
That annual movement was the largest since an identical rise in the year to December 1992, SNZ said.
The 1.1 per cent fall in the non-residential buildings index was driven by lower labour rates and contractors' margins, particularly in the construction of shops and offices, and other non-residential buildings.
In the year to June, that index fell 0.1 per cent, the first annual fall since a 0.5 per cent fall in the year to March 1999.
The CGPI rose 4.1 per cent in the year to June 2009, compared with rises of 3.1 per cent in the year to June 2008 and 2.8 per cent in the year to June 2007.
-NZPA
