2017.06.0619:45:00UTC+00New Zealand Manufacturing Sales Fall 0.3% In Q1

Total manufacturing sales in New Zealand were down a seasonally adjusted 0.3 percent on quarter in the first three months of 2017, Statistics New Zealand said on Wednesday.

That follows the downwardly revised 2.0 percent contraction in the previous three months.

Excluding meat and dairy product manufacturing, sales rose 1.7 percent on quarter, while meat and dairy product manufacturing fell 7.8 percent.

"The fall in meat and dairy sales volumes followed a similar fall in the previous quarter," business indicators manager Craig Liken said. "In contrast, sales values were up $77 million, mainly reflecting a rise in dairy product prices."

The main industry movements were in petroleum and coal product manufacturing (up 5.7 percent) and chemical, polymer, and rubber product manufacturing (up 7.0 percent).

The value of manufacturing was up 2.8 percent following the upwardly revised 1.3 percent increase in the three months prior (originally 0.8 percent).

Excluding meat and dairy product manufacturing, value rose 3.5 percent, while meat and dairy product manufacturing rose 1.1 percent.

The value of manufacturing sales was NZ$25.7 billion in the first quarter, up NZ$1.5 billion (6.2 percent) from a year earlier.