Dairy, energy prices push up New Zealand producer input, output prices

Rising dairy and fuel prices pushed up New Zealand producer output and input prices in the quarter ending March, the government statistics agency said Wednesday.


Key influences on the outputs index, which was up 1.7 percent in the quarter, came from five industries, said a statement from Statistics New Zealand.


The dairy sector contributed an 8.4-percent rise for dairy cattle farming, reflecting higher farm-gate milk prices, and 4.6- percent rise for dairy product manufacturing, reflecting higher milk powder prices.


Rises in the energy sector included a 9.8-percent rise for petroleum and coal product manufacturing, reflecting higher prices for petrol and diesel, and a 7.3-percent rise for mining, reflecting higher export prices for crude oil.


The agency also attributed the increase to the 8.5-percent rise for meat and meat product manufacturing, reflecting higher export prices for beef and lamb.


Together, price rises for the five industries contributed about 61 percent of the total 1.7-percent rise in output prices in the March quarter.


Key influences on the inputs index, which was up 2.2 percent, were the 7.3-percent rise for dairy product manufacturing, reflecting higher farm-gate milk prices, and the 15.7-percent rise for petroleum and coal product manufacturing, reflecting higher prices for imported crude oil.


Together, the dairy product manufacturing index and the petroleum and coal product manufacturing index contributed about 43 percent of the overall 2.2-percent rise in input prices in the quarter.


Output prices increased 4.2 percent overall in the year to the March quarter, while input prices were up 5.3 percent.


The producers price index measures changes in prices received by producer, known as output prices, and changes in the costs of production, excluding labor and depreciation costs, known as input prices.
(Source:http://news.xinhuanet.com)