A seven-year high in sales volumes for transport equipment and machinery manufacturing helped boost the economy in the March 2018 quarter says Statistics New Zealand.
The total volume of manufacturing sales rose 1.4 percent in the March 2018 quarter compared with the December 2017 quarter.
Nine of the 13 manufacturing industries had sales rises in the March 2018 quarter but the hero this quarter has been transport equipment and machinery manufacturing, rising 6.0 percent; its nearest competitor, meat and dairy, only rising 2.2 percent.
“The rise in transport equipment and machinery manufacturing follows a fall in the previous December quarter,” 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 actual volume of total manufacturing sales was up 2.8 percent from the previous March quarter. When price changes are included, the value of manufacturing sales was $27.4 billion in the March 2018 quarter, up $1.8 billion from the March 2017 quarter.