Oil price drop holds down New Zealand producer prices

Low fuel prices helped curb New Zealand producer prices in the quarter ending March, the government statistics agency announced Tuesday.

The output producers price index (PPI), the measure of prices received was down 0.9 percent, while the input PPI, the measure of prices paid by producers, was down 1.1 percent, according to Statistics New Zealand.

"Producers benefited from lower petrol and diesel prices. Lower fuel prices helped to lower input prices in many primary industries, and in construction and transport," prices manager Chris Pike said in a statement.

Output prices for the petroleum and coal product manufacturing industry fell 19 percent in the March quarter, the biggest quarterly drop since a 20-percent fall in the December 2008 quarter, when fuel prices also fell sharply.

Falling global dairy prices dragged down prices paid to dairy cattle farmers by 4.6 percent, while prices received by dairy product manufacturers fell 5.2 percent, reflecting lower prices for dairy exports.

In the year to the end of March, the output PPI was down 2.5 percent and the input PPI fell 4 percent. Endi