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Sales figures brighten year-end for New Zealand manufacturers

Xinhua, December 8, 2015 Adjust font size:

A falling New Zealand dollar has given manufacturers cause for celebration, according to figures from the government statistics agency Tuesday.

Food and beverage related industries drove a large increase in manufacturing sales in the September quarter, Statistics New Zealand said.

The volume of total manufacturing sales rose 3.5 percent from the June quarter, with meat and dairy product manufacturing sales up 6.3 percent.

"Meat and dairy product manufacturing was up strongly after a period of fairly subdued sales," business indicators senior manager Neil Kelly said in a statement.

Beverage and tobacco product manufacturing sales were up 9.9 percent, while fruit, oil, cereal, and other food manufacturing sales rose 4.5 percent.

"The food manufacturing sector had higher sales across the board, with beverage manufacturing being particularly strong," Kelly said.

The trend for total manufacturing sales volume, which gave a longer-term picture of movements, was rising after a recent flat period.

The rise was also seen in the volume of dairy exports rising 11 percent and meat exports rising 9.8 percent.

The actual value of manufacturing sales was 23.6 billion NZ dollars (15.67 billion U.S. dollars) in the September quarter, up 1.4 percent year on year.

The New Zealand Manufacturers and Exporters Association (NZMEA) said the results were in line with anecdotal evidence that members were doing better than they had been "in some time."

"The fall in the exchange rate has really helped many manufacturers regain ground in their margins," NZMEA chief executive Dieter Adam said in a statement.

"This is vital for putting our manufacturers in a position to invest in innovation, capital equipment and our people. Manufacturers have to be able to invest in their future to stay globally competitive." Endit