May 16, 2008

Dairy prices raise producers' prices in New Zealand

Dairy prices were one of the main drivers in New Zealand producers' price increases in the March quarter, Statistics New Zealand reported.

In the producers' price index (PPI), output prices were up 1.8 percent and input prices rose 2.3 percent.

The dairy product manufacturing outputs index went up 13.7 percent in the quarter. This was driven mainly by export prices of milk powder, cheese and butter.

The annual increase of 50.4 percent was the highest recorded since the series began in 1994 and compared with a fall of 3.4 percent in the previous year.

The overall increase in the PPI outputs index in the last quarter was partly offset by a decline in the livestock and cropping farming index, which decreased 8.4 percent.

The meat and meat-product manufacturing index, which declined 8.6 percent, was the main downward contributor to partly offset the overall rise in the PPI input prices in the latest quarter.

The annual increases of the PPI outputs and inputs indices were 6.1 percent and 7.4 percent respectively.

The PPI is a measure of the change in the general level of prices for the productive sector of New Zealand.