WELLINGTON, Nov. 19 (Xinhua) -- The prices that businesses pay for petrol and diesel rose 6.9 percent and 7 percent respectively in September, New Zealand's statistics department Stats NZ said on Monday.
This made the latest quarter the fourth in a row with rising fuel costs. Other petroleum products such as aviation fuel and lubricating oils also rose this quarter, Stats NZ said.
Petrol and diesel costs for businesses rose 22.5 percent and 37.8 percent respectively in the year to September 2018. Other petroleum products rose 14.3 percent for the year. Fuel was a major contributor to the costs that businesses pay to produce their goods and services, it said.
Input and output prices (up 1.4 percent and 1.5 percent respectively) for businesses showed relatively strong increases in September, it said, adding that while a wider or narrower gap between input and output prices affects business profitability, volumes were also a factor.
The transport, postal, and warehousing industry had a 3.1-percent increase in input costs in the latest quarter, affected by the fuel increases, statistics shows.
The increase flowed through to customers - output prices these businesses charged for their services - rose 2.9 percent this quarter.
For postal businesses, maintaining profitability in the face of decreasing mail volumes contributed to this industry's rise in output prices, according to Stats NZ.
