Prices for NZ goods and services up 1.4pc

The cost of refined petroleum products like diesel rose 10.5pc in the June quarter, says Statistics NZ. The overall producers price index was up 1.4pc. Photo / Michael Cunningham

Prices for goods and services produced in this country rose 1.4 per cent in the June quarter from the previous three months, as measured by Statistics New Zealand's (SNZ) producers price index (PPI).

The largest contributions to the rise in output prices included a 10.5 per cent rise for goods produced by the petroleum and coal product manufacturing industry, reflecting higher prices for refined petroleum products, while prices for manufactured dairy products rose 5.1 per cent.

Offsetting those rises the outputs price index for telecommunications, internet, and library services dropped 6.1 per cent, when compared with the March quarter.

For the year from the June 2010 quarter, the overall PPI for outputs rose 4.5 per cent.

Prices for goods and services used by New Zealand producers rose 0.9 per cent in the June quarter, SNZ said.

The input price rises included a 5.5 per cent lift in meat and meat product manufacturing, reflecting higher livestock prices, a 3.4 per cent rise for petroleum and coal product manufacturing, a 2.3 per cent rise in prices faced by agriculture, forestry and fishing, reflecting higher fuel prices, and a 2.5 per cent rise for transport, postal services, and warehousing.

The annual rise in the overall PPI for inputs was 4.8 per cent.

The price of capital goods bought by New Zealand producers, and measured by the capital goods price index, rose 0.5 per cent in the June quarter, while being up just 0.4 per cent for the year.

Prices associated with infrastructure projects, such as roading, pushed the civil construction price index up 2.8 per cent in the June quarter and by 5.3 per cent on an annual basis.

Prices related to the construction of non-residential buildings rose 0.6 per cent in the June quarter, while prices for the construction of residential buildings were up 0.8 per cent for the latest quarter and 1.1 per cent when compared with the previous June quarter.

Prices for the plant, machinery, and equipment group fell 0.6 per cent on a quarterly basis and by 2.5 per cent on an annual basis.

SNZ said the largest contributor to that fall were prices for computer equipment, which decreased by 5.6 per cent on a quarterly basis and by 14.3 per cent over the year.

- NZPA