Manufacturing sales volumes fell a seasonally adjusted 1.4 per cent in the September quarter, led by a 7.1 per cent fall in meat and dairy manufacturing, Statistics New Zealand (SNZ) says.
Signs of growth showed up in some other industries with wood product manufacturing volumes up 9.1 per cent, comparedto the June quarter, and basic metal manufacturing volumes up 21.5 per cent, although machinery and equipment manufacturing fell 4.4 per cent.
The overall fall in volumes followed a rise of 1.5 per cent in the June quarter.
On a value basis, seasonally adjusted manufacturing sales fell 5.1 per cent or $1 billion from the June quarter. That was the fourth consecutive quarterly fall in the value of sales, lowering them to the level last seen in early 2007, SNZ said.
Driving the latest fall in values was a 15.8 per cent or $1.01 billion drop in sales values for meat and dairy product manufacturing, mainly due to lower prices for dairy products.
Basic metal manufacturing values were up 14.6 per cent or $85 million, petroleum and industrial chemical manufacturing fell 8.8 per cent or $68 million, machinery and equipment manufacturing fell 4 per cent or $66 million, and transport equipment manufacturing rose 11.7 per cent or $65 million.
Stocks of finished goods, which are not seasonally adjusted, fell 8.7 per cent in volume compared to a year earlier, while stock values fell 14.9 per cent or $1.2 billion from September 2008.
Excluding meat and dairy, the volume of sales rose a seasonally adjusted 1 per cent in the September quarter compared to the June quarter.
That followed falls in the previous six quarters that reduced the volume to the lowest level in 15 years.
The value of sales was down 0.8 per cent or $107 million, the fifth consecutive quarterly fall.
The volume of finished goods stocks, excluding meat and dairy, fell 10.5 per cent from a year earlier, while the value fell 8.3 per cent to $5.2 billion.
SNZ said the fall in the volume of meat and dairy sales in the latest quarter came after rises totalling 28.4 per cent in the previous two quarters.
The fall in the volume of machinery and equipment sales took the sector to its lowest level in almost 11 years.
