WELLINGTON, March 8 (Xinhua) -- The volume of New Zealand manufacturing sales fell in the December 2016 quarter, but values were bolstered by higher prices, the government statistics agency said Wednesday.
The pillar meat and dairy sector led the movements in manufacturing sales, according to Statistics New Zealand.
The volume of meat and dairy manufacturing fell by 5.7 percent in the December quarter, although sales values rose by 5.2 percent, or 352 million NZ dollars (245.17 million U.S. dollars), due to higher prices.
The rise in sales values reflected a sharp rise in dairy product prices, business indicators senior manager Neil Kelly said in a statement.
"The fall in meat and dairy sales volumes followed rises in the previous two quarters," said Kelly.
The volume of total manufacturing sales fell 1.8 percent in the December quarter, following a 1.5-percent rise in the September 2016 quarter.
However, the value of total manufacturing sales rose 0.8 percent, or 203 million NZ dollars (141.41 million U.S. dollars) in the December quarter, after a 1.1-percent rise in the September quarter
Excluding meat and dairy, the manufacturing sales volume fell 0.6 percent -- the first fall in over two years.
The trend for the total manufacturing sales volume had been mainly rising since mid 2013, but now appeared to be easing.
The actual volume of total manufacturing sales was up 0.9 percent on the December 2015 quarter, while the value was up 1.9 percent to 26.9 billion NZ dollars (18.74 billion U.S. dollars).
