The output of Large-Scale Manufacturing Industries (LSMI) grew by 26.6 percent on a year-on-year basis during March 2022, showing the highest increase since May 2021 on a year-on-year basis.
According to the data released by the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS), the LSMI growth witnessed an increase of 8.2 percent in April on a month-on-month basis against March 2022, whereas on average, the LSMI grew by 7 percent on a year-on-year basis during the first three quarters (July-March) 2021-22 as compared to the same period of the previous fiscal year 2020-21.
The LSMI Quantum Index Number (QIM) was recorded at 161.2 points during July-March 2021-22 against 150.7 points during July-March 2020-21, according to the latest PBS data.
The highest increase of 6 percent growth in LSMI sector during July-March (2021-22) was witnessed in the indices monitored by the Ministry of Industries, followed by 0.9 percent increase in indices monitored by the Provincial Board of Statistics (BOS) and 0.1 in the products monitored by the Oil Companies Advisory Committee (OCAC).
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The major sectors that showed positive growth during July-March 2021-22 included textile (1.6 percent), food, beverages and tobacco (17.4 percent), coke and petroleum products (1.1 percent), pharmaceutical (4.6 percent), chemicals (7.1 percent), automobiles (26.8 percent), iron and steel products (21.5 percent), fertilizer (3.2 percent), paper and board (8.5 percent) and wood products 157.5 percent.
The commodities that witnessed negative growth included non-metallic mineral products (2.4 percent), electronics (8.4 percent), leather products (3.3 percent) engineering products (3.8 percent) and rubber products (20.6 percent).
The growth during the month of March 2022 was led by the furniture, food, and apparel sectors as they posted year-on-year growth of 186.5 percent, 85 percent, and 78.6 percent respectively.
Similarly, football manufacturing grew by 64.1 percent, wood products by 32.6 percent, automobiles by 26 percent, chemical products by 17.1 percent, fertilizer by 16.9 percent, pharmaceuticals by 12.6 percent, paper & board by 11.6 percent, iron & steel products by 11.2 percent, petroleum products by 8.1 percent, computer, electronics and optical products by 6 percent, textile by 5.1 percent, non-metallic mineral products by 4.2 percent, and rubber products by 0.2 percent.
While the industries that contracted during March 2022 on a year-on-year basis were beverages (-6pc), tobacco (-1.4pc), leather products (-7.6pc), machinery and equipment (-10.9pc), fabricated metal (-6.1pc), electrical equipment (-1.5pc), and other transport equipment (-11.7pc).
On a cumulative basis, during the first three quarters, out of 22 major industries, 17 posted positive growth while the rest of the 5 industries witnessed a decline.
