Lower dairy prices have led to a decline in the value of manufacturing sales, though volumes rose.
Official figures show the total value of seasonally adjusted manufacturing sales fell 0.7 percent in the three months to December, with volumes rising 0.9 percent.
Dairy prices were down about 12 percent on the year ealier.
Excluding meat and dairy, core sales rose for the seventh consecutive quarter.
A senior economist at ANZ Bank, Mark Smith, said overall the latest statistics indicated a resilient manufacturing sector with a broadbase increase in the volume of sales in nine of the 12 core industries.
