Dairy and meat products for export kept New Zealand's manufacturing sector growing in the final quarter of last year, the government statistics agency said Thursday.

The volume of all manufacturing rose by 1.3 percent, or by 290 million NZ dollars (237.08 million U.S. dollars), in the December 2011 quarter, according to Statistics New Zealand.

"The 3.2-percent increase in the volume of meat and dairy manufacturing is reflected in the 6.3-percent increase in the volume of exports of dairy products," industry and labor statistics manager Blair Cardno said in a statement.

"But if the meat and dairy industry is excluded, the volume of manufacturing in the December quarter fell 0.7 percent."

The volume of sales for the petroleum and coal product manufacturing industry rose by 10.4 percent, or 164 million NZ dollars in the quarter, following falls in the three previous quarters.

Seven of the other 12 manufacturing industries recorded falls in the December quarter, led by transport equipment, machinery, and equipment manufacturing, which fell by 4.7 percent, or 115 million NZ dollars; and beverage and tobacco products, which was down 5.6 percent, or 64 million NZ dollars.

The volume of sales, excluding meat and dairy product manufacturing, fell by 0.7 percent, or 112 million NZ dollars, for the second consecutive quarter in the December quarter. Seven of the 12 industries that made up this grouping recorded falls.

The trend for the manufacturing sales volume indicated manufacturing volumes had been fluctuating around the same level for almost three years, said the statement.