Manufacturing sales volumes fall 0.2% in second quarter on petroleum, coal, meat, dairy
Total seasonally adjusted sales volumes declined 0.2% in the three months ended June 30.
New Zealand manufacturing sales volumes fell in the second quarter, driven by the continued decline in petroleum and coal and in meat and dairy.
Total seasonally adjusted sales volumes declined 0.2% in the three months ended June 30, following a 0.3% drop in the first quarter, according to Statistics NZ. The volume of dairy and meat, the nation's two largest exports, fell 0.6% and excluding those two industries, volumes rose 0.6%.
The volume of sales for the petroleum and coal product industry, which don't tend to follow a stable seasonal pattern, fell 5.2%, following two quarters of gains.
Manufacturing is the last significant piece of data that feeds into gross domestic product in the second quarter, which is scheduled for release on Sept. 17. The Reserve Bank had projected quarterly GDP growth of 0.8% in its June monetary policy statement. Before today's figures, bank economists had been expecting a weaker number, of between 0.3% and 0.7%. The central bank revises its forecasts with its latest MPS on Thursday.
Both the volume and value of dairy and meat manufacturing sales declined in the second quarter. In current prices, the total value of manufacturing sales rose 0.4%, as a 1.6% decline in dairy and meat product manufacturing was offset by a 3% gain for transport equipment, machinery and equipment manufacturing. Excluding dairy and meat, the sales value rose 0.9%.
Beverage and tobacco product manufacturing sales fell 4% by value.
The volume of finished goods stocks, which aren't seasonally adjusted, rose 2.2% from the second quarter last year, led by a 15% increase in stocks of chemicals, polymers, and rubber product manufacturing.
(BusinessDesk)
Jonathan Underhill
Tue, 08 Sep 2015
Tue, 08 Sep 2015
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Manufacturing sales volumes fall 0.2% in second quarter on petroleum, coal, meat, dairy
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