ISLAMABAD: Growth in large-scale manufacturing (LSM) slowed down in September, the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics reported on Monday.

LSM posted a paltry increase of 2.5 per cent year-on-year in September as opposed to higher-than-expected growth in the first two months of 2017-18. It grew 8.5pc in August and 13pc in July.

The LSM growth target is 6.3pc for 2017-18. It grew 5.6pc in 2016-17. In July-September, LSM posted a growth of 8.36pc year-on-year.

LSM constitutes an 80pc share within manufacturing while its share in overall GDP is 10.7pc. Small-scale manufacturing accounts for 1.8pc in GDP and 13.7pc within manufacturing.

Production data of 36 items received from the Ministry of Industries contributed 3.11pc to LSM growth in September. The contribution of 65 items reported by the provincial bureaus of statistics posted a negative growth of 1.19pc. Production data of 11 items received from the Oil Companies Advisory Committee (OCAC) contributed 0.59pc to LSM growth in September.

Industry-specific data shows that iron and steel products recorded the highest growth of 41.71pc, followed by engineering products 41.55pc, automobiles 26.53pc, coke and petroleum products 8.5pc, chemicals 7.93pc, paper and board 6.06pc, food, beverages and tobacco 3.67pc, rubber products 2.96pc, textiles 0.88pc and leather products 0.19pc.

Sectors that showed a decline in production during the month under review include fertilisers, down 16.6pc, pharmaceuticals 15.27pc, wood products 8.15pc, electronics 3.52 and non-metallic mineral products 1.38pc.

In the automobile sector, the production of tractors went up 117.6pc year-on-year in September, trucks 52.5pc, motorcycles 17.6pc, and jeeps and cars 27.09pc. The production of light commercial vehicles increased 5.47pc. However, the production of buses dropped 20.34pc during the month under review.

Growth in the chemical sector was mainly driven by caustic soda, up 4.73pc in September. However, a negative growth of 0.29pc was recorded in paints and varnishes-small during the month under review.

In the pharmaceutical segment, capsules, injections, liquids/syrups and tablets recorded a negative growth of 7.51pc, 11.37pc, 15.15pc and 17.41pc, respectively.

In non-metallic mineral products, cement recorded a negative growth of 1.63pc in September year-on-year.

Published in Dawn, November 21st, 2017