7 September 2018
Fruit exports drove wholesale trade sales up in the June 2018 quarter, Stats NZ said today.
The seasonally adjusted total sales value for wholesale trade rose 2.6 percent in the June 2018 quarter, following a
modest 0.3 percent rise in the March 2018 quarter.
Five of the six wholesaling industries had sales rises in the June 2018 quarter. The largest industry increase was in
grocery, liquor, and tobacco wholesaling, which was up 3.0 percent ($236 million).
“This industry’s increase was led by greater sales for fruit exporters. Both kiwifruit and apple exporters had a very
good quarter,” wholesale trade manager Sue Chapman said.
Overseas merchandise trade: June 2018 also reflected this industry’s rise – showing an 11 percent increase in seasonally adjusted fruit exports for the
quarter.
Kiwifruit monthly exports soar to a new high explains growth in April this year.
Machinery and equipment had the second-largest rise of all industries, up 3.5 percent ($185 million).
Machinery and equipment includes: agricultural and construction machinery, computers and related equipment such as
keyboards and printers, cellphones and other telecommunication goods, and professional and scientific goods.
The third-largest rise in sales value was in the basic material wholesaling industry, up 3.1 percent ($182 million) in
the June 2018 quarter. This followed a 1.6 percent fall in the March quarter.
Basic material includes other agricultural products (eg hides and stock feed), hardware goods, metals, minerals,
petroleum, and timber wholesaling.
The actual value of total wholesale trade sales was $26.7 billion in the June 2018 quarter, up $1.8 billion (7.1
percent) from the June 2017 quarter.
The Government Statistician authorises all statistics and data we publish.
For more information about these statistics: Visit Wholesale trade survey: June 2018 quarter See CSV files for download Open the attached files
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