Prices Lift Manufacturing Results

Economic Survey of Manufacturing: March 2006 quarter
Embargoed until 10:45am — 16 June 2006

Prices Lift Manufacturing Results

Seasonally adjusted manufacturing sales increased 1.0 percent in the March 2006 quarter compared with the December 2005 quarter, Statistics New Zealand said today. However, with the effect of price changes removed, seasonally adjusted manufacturing sales increased 0.1 percent for the March 2006 quarter. This reflects an increase in the values received for sales, rather than the volumes produced.

During the March 2006 quarter, many survey respondents noted the impact of the lower New Zealand dollar, compared with the United States dollar, as a contributing factor in sales increases for some industries.

With the exclusion of the meat and dairy product manufacturing industry, seasonally adjusted sales for manufacturing increased 1.8 percent for the March 2006 quarter, following a decrease of 0.2 percent for the December 2005 quarter.

During the March 2006 quarter, other food manufacturing (which includes for example, oil, flour, cereal, bread, sugar and seafood processing), contributed the highest dollar-value change in seasonally adjusted sales (up 6.4 percent). This was followed by meat and dairy product manufacturing (up 2.0 percent), and rubber, plastic and other chemical product manufacturing (up 6.6 percent). These increases were partly offset by decreases in machinery and equipment manufacturing (down 5.8 percent), and structural, sheet and fabricated metal product manufacturing (down 5.3 percent).

Geoff Bascand
Acting Government Statistician

ENDS

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