Wednesday, 20 November 2013 14:34

Dairy pushes up producer prices

Written by Pamela Tipa

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PRICES RECEIVED BY New Zealand producers, as measured by the output producers price index (PPI), rose 2.4% in the September 2013 quarter, Statistics New Zealand says.

"The September quarter output producers price index had its biggest quarterly rise in five years. Higher farm-gate milk prices for dairy farmers and strong prices for milk powder exports contributed to this rise," prices manager Chris Pike says.

Two major upward contributions to the output PPI came from dairy cattle farming (up 29%) and dairy product manufacturing (up 14%). In contrast, electricity and gas supply prices fell 4.4% in the September 2013 quarter.

The input PPI, representing the prices of goods and services used by New Zealand producers, rose 2.2% in the September 2013 quarter. The latest increase was influenced by the higher milk prices paid by dairy producers, and higher prices for lamb and beef – due to strong demand and tight supply.

In the year to the September 2013 quarter, the output PPI was up 4.1%, while the input PPI rose 3.3%.

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