By Irfan Ahmed ISLAMABAD, Feb. 23 (INP-WealthPK) The overall output of the large-scale manufacturing industry (LSMI) increased by 3.4% during July-December 2021-22 compared with the corresponding period of 2020-21, with 2005-06 as the base year, the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS) said Friday. The provisional Quantum Index numbers of the Large-Scale Manufacturing Industries (QIM) have been computed based on the latest production data of 112 items. On a year-on-year basis (YoY), the industry grew by 3.8% during December 2021 compared with the growth in December 2020. Similarly, on a month-on-month basis, the overall LSM growth recorded 16.7% during December 2021 compared with the preceding month of November 2021. The QIM recorded 147.6 points during July-December (2021-22) against 142.7 points during July-December (2020-21), showing a growth of 3.4%, according to the latest PBS data. The provisional QIM is computed based on the latest production data received from sources, including the Oil Companies Advisory Committee (OCAC), Ministry of Industries and Production (MIP), and provincial bureaus of statistics (BOS). The Ministry of Industries' indices increased the most by 3.1% from July to December (2021-22), followed by the Provincial Board of Statistics' (BOS) indices, which increased by 0.4%, and the OCAC's goods, which decreased by 0.03%. The production in July-December 2021-22 compared with July-December 2020-21 has increased in textile, food, beverages & tobacco, chemicals, automobiles, iron & steel products, leather products, and paper & paperboard, while it decreased in non-metallic mineral products, fertilizers, electronics & rubber products. The major industries that showed positive growth during July-December (2021-22) included textile 1.1%, food, beverages & tobacco 3.1%, chemicals 5.4%, automobiles 35.7 %, iron & steel products 23.9%, leather products 8.3%, paper & board 8.3%, engineering products 1.1%, and wood products 229.4%. On the contrary, the commodities that witnessed a negative growth during July-December (2021-22) included, coke & petroleum products 0.5%, pharmaceutical 0.7%, non-metallic mineral products 0.6%, fertilizers 3.9%, electronics 6.2%, rubber products 28.3%. The OCAC recorded a month-on-month (MoM) negative growth of 9.1% in December 2021 against the previous month and 23.2% negative growth was recorded year-on-year in December 2021 against December 2020. The data showed that the Ministry of Industries-related sectors witnessed a growth of 23.3% in December 2021 against November 2021 on MoM basis, while on YoY basis, it registered a 6.4% growth in December 2021 as compared with the same month of 2020.

Source: Pakistan Bureau of Statistics

The petroleum products witnessed a negative growth of 0.5%, as the output decreased from 7.152 billion liters in July-December 2020-21 to 7.120 billion liters in July-December 2021-22. On YoY basis, petroleum products witnessed 23.2% decline in December 2021 and stood at 1.017 billion liters compared with 1.324 billion in December 2020. Cement production witnessed 0.9% negative growth during July-December 2021-22 and stood at 24.349 million tonnes compared with 24.575 million tonnes during the same period of last year. On YoY basis, cement production witnessed 1.1% decline in December 2021 and stood at 4.087 million tonnes compared with 4.133 million tonnes in December 2020. Refrigerator production grew by 41.5% from 591,015 in July-December 2020-21 to 836,550 in July-December 2021-22. On YoY basis, refrigerator production witnessed 43.9% increase in December 2021 and reached 4156,391 compared with 108,703 in December 2020. On the other hand, capsules production witnessed 35.5% decline during July-December 2021-22 and stood at 1.471 billion compared with 2.282 billion during the same period of last year. In addition, in the first half of the fiscal year 2021-22, the number of jeeps and cars witnessed 72.4% increase to 114,032 from 66,148 in the same period of the fiscal year 2020-21. Sugar production witnessed 4.0% negative growth during July-December 2021-22 and stood at 1.806 million tonnes compared with 1.881 million tonnes during the same period of last year. On YoY basis, sugar production witnessed 3.6% increase in December 2021 and reached 1.474 million tonnes compared with 1.423 million tonnes in December 2020. The production of LSMI was strong in December, and it appears that the industry will continue to function well in the near future. The economic strength of a country is measured from the development of manufacturing industries. Industries help eradicate unemployment and poverty by providing jobs. The manufacturing sector is crucial for employment generation and the development of an economy. The manufacturing industry generates more economic activity than other sectors. The country's large-scale industrial output is increasing, and this trend is projected to continue in the coming months.