September 19, 2018 (MLN): Output from Pakistan’s Large Scale Manufacturing Industries (LSMI) grew by 7 percent in July 2018, when compared to the month before, but growth remained marginal at 0.50 percent when compared to the output generated from these industries during the previous year.

Since April 2018, output from these industries has been declining consistently with quantum indices of LSMI peaking in 175.54 during March 2018. Since then, LSMI index bottomed at 126.57 during the last month of the previous financial year, i.e. June 2018, marking the 7 percent growth in output from these industries as the first in the last four months. LSMI index during July has been recorded at 135.42.

Compared to last year, i.e. July 2017, growth in the output from large scale manufacturing industries has however remained marginal at 0.5 percent.

An increase in the output of manufacturing items like Food, Beverages and Tobacco has had the largest impact on the 0.5 percent growth in LISMI index witnessed over the last year as output from this sector grew by 3.24 percent during this time frame.

According to official statistics released on Wednesday, the largest increase in output was seen in the production of Engineering goods, which grew by 13.18 percent in July 2018 over the previous year. The second largest growth in production, of 11.74 percent, was reported for the production output of Electronic items.

Other items that also witnessed a growth in the production output included Coke and Petroleum products that saw output growth of 6.14 percent, Non Metallic Mineral Products growing by 0.53 percent, production of Automobiles that grew by 9.75 percent, Leather products at 1.19 percent, Paper & Board items growing at 4.67 percent, and Rubber products that grew by 8.31 percent.

Output from certain sectors however fell during this time frame, which includes production of textile items that fell by 0.5 percent, Chemical items that fell by 2.44 percent, Iron and Steel Products by 2.77 percent and the production of fertilizers that fell by 6.81 percent in July 2018 over the corresponding period the prior year.

The largest decline in output of about 55.64 percent was seen in the production of Wood products, but since the weightage of the industrial output from this sector remains low on the Large Scale Manufacturing Industries Index, its impact on the index remained minimal. Production of Pharmaceutical items saw the second largest decline in output in July, as output from this sector fell by 10.80 percent.

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