KEY POINTS:
Rising prices for fuel and milk were major factors in pushing up industries' input and output prices in the September quarter, with some relief from lower electricity prices.
Producers' output prices rose 2.8 per cent, following a 3.5 per cent rise in the June quarter, while input prices were up 3.7 per cent after a 5.6 per cent rise in the June quarter.
Publishing the data today, Statistics New Zealand (SNZ) said that for both indices, the major contribution came from the fuel wholesaling sector within the wholesale trade industry group.
The wholesale trade outputs index rose 4.3 per cent in the September quarter, driven up by higher wholesale prices for fuel.
In the year to the September 2008 quarter, the wholesale trade outputs index rose 17.3 per cent, the largest annual increase since the series began in 1994.
The wholesale trade inputs index rose 8.1 per cent in the latest quarter, with higher imported crude oil prices the major driver, SNZ said.
In the year to the September quarter, the wholesale trade inputs index rose 25.2 per cent, also the largest annual increase since the series began.
A rise in the farmgate price for milk had an effect on both the outputs for dairy cattle farming, which was up 24.4 per cent, and the inputs for dairy product manufacturing, up 20.2 per cent.
Change in the whole-milk payout is only shown in the Producers Price Index (PPI) each September quarter, so the movement reflected the increase in price between the September 2007 and September 2008 quarters.
Another factor affecting output prices was a 17.5 per cent rise in the livestock and cropping farming index in the September quarter, the largest quarterly increase since the series started in 1994.
Higher prices for both prime beef and prime lamb livestock were the main contributors to the rise, SNZ said.
The third most significant contributor to the rise in input prices was a 22.3 per cent lift in the meat and meat product manufacturing index, the largest rise since the series started. It was largely driven by higher prices for prime beef and prime sheep and lamb livestock at the farm gate.
Partly offsetting both input and output index rises were falls in the electricity generation and supply index - down 15 per cent for output prices in the quarter and down 31.5 per cent for input prices.
The electricity decrease followed large increases in the two previous quarters, with respondents citing spot market conditions and improvements in hydro lake levels for lower average electricity generation prices.
In the year to the September quarter, output prices rose 9.8 per cent, the biggest rise in 21 years, and input prices were up 13.6 per cent, the biggest increase in 23 years.
The capital goods price index, also released today, rose 1.4 per cent in the September quarter, with higher construction costs for new houses and rises in prices for machinery the main contributors.
For the year to the September quarter, the CGPI lifted 3.8 per cent.
- NZPA
