Groceries drive five-year-high rise in New Zealand wholesale business

WELLINGTON, June 20 (Xinhua) -- Grocery items led a resurgence in New Zealand's wholesale sales in the last quarter, which saw the highest quarterly rise in five years, the government's statistics agency announced Monday.

Seasonally adjusted total wholesale trade sales were up 2.8 percent, or 550 million NZ dollars (445.72 million U.S. dollars), in the quarter to March, said Statistics New Zealand.

It was the sixth consecutive quarterly sales increase and the first quarterly sales increase of more than 500 million NZ dollars since 2006, said a statement from Statistics New Zealand.

More than half the increase was due to a rise in grocery products wholesaling.

"The overall picture remains positive, as sales rose in four of the six wholesale industries," said business statistics manager Louise Holmes-Oliver.

The largest rises were in grocery, liquor, and tobacco products (up 5.9 percent or 357 million NZ dollars) and basic materials (up 7.2 percent or 310 million NZ dollars).

The biggest decrease was in motor vehicle and motor vehicle parts wholesaling, which was down 10.9 percent (177 million NZ dollars).

Wholesale trade sales had been steadily rising since the September 2009 quarter, and were up 14 percent since then, said the statement.

The seasonally adjusted value of stocks was 8.8 billion NZ dollars at the end of March 2011, an increase of 0.2 percent (13 million NZ dollars) compared with the previous quarter.