Kiwifruit gives wholesale trade a golden glow

7 December 2018

Fruit exports drove wholesale trade up for the second quarter in a row, Stats NZ said today.

The seasonally adjusted total sales value for wholesale trade rose 2.5 percent in the September 2018 quarter, following a 2.6 percent rise in the June 2018 quarter.

Five of the six wholesaling industries had sales rises in the September 2018 quarter. The largest industry increase was in grocery, liquor, and tobacco wholesaling, which was up 4.1 percent ($340 million).

“This industry’s increase was led by higher sales for kiwifruit exports,” wholesale trade manager Sue Chapman said.

Overseas merchandise trade: September 2018 has more about kiwifruit exports.

The basic material industry had the second-largest rise of all industries, up 3.4 percent ($203 million).

Basic material wholesaling includes some agricultural products (such as hides and stock feed), hardware goods, metals, minerals, petroleum, and timber wholesaling.

The motor vehicle and motor-vehicle parts industry had a modest 0.2 percent sales fall in the latest quarter, following a strong 3.6 percent rise in the June 2018 quarter.

“Toyota New Zealand changed their operating model in April. As a result there’s some shift in activity and stocks from retail trade into the wholesale trade sector,” Ms Chapman said.

The actual value of total wholesale trade sales was $27.7 billion in the September 2018 quarter, up $2.2 billion (8.6 percent) from the September 2017 quarter.

For more information about these statistics:
• Visit Wholesale trade survey: September 2018 quarter
• See CSV files for download

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