New Zealand's manufacturing activity continued to gain in the first quarter of the year. Photo/123RF.
New Zealand manufacturing sales volumes were boosted by transport equipment and machinery manufacturing in the first quarter.
The volume of all manufacturing sales rose a seasonally adjusted 1.4 per cent in the three months to March 31 while the value lifted 0.6 per cent, Statistics New Zealand said. Nine of
the 13 manufacturing industries had sales rises in the March 2018 quarter.
The Stats NZ survey showed that the largest movements were in the equipment and machinery manufacturing, up 6 per cent.
"The rise in transport equipment and machinery manufacturing follows a fall in the previous December quarter," Stats NZ manufacturing statistics manager Sue Chapman said. "The latest rise is the largest since March 2011, and the fourth-largest rise since the series began."
The sales volume of meat and dairy product manufacturing - which accounts for around a quarter of production - lifted 2.2 per cent while the value fell 4.7 per cent on the quarter.
