ISLAMABAD: The large-scale manufacturing (LSM) posted a growth of 5.4 per cent year-on-year in 2017-18, the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics revealed on Monday.

This year’s data show that the FY18 target of 6.3pc was missed. In 2016-17, the LSM went higher by 5.6pc.

The increase in June was recorded at 0.51pc, reflecting that the growth in the large industrial sector is decelerating.

LSM constitutes 80pc of manufacturing and 10.7pc of the overall GDP. In comparison, small-scale manufacturing accounts for just 1.8pc GDP and 13.7pc in manufacturing.

Production data of 36 items received from the Ministry of Industries and Production showed negative growth of 3.42pc in outgoing fiscal year. 65 items reported by the provincial bureaus of statistics, on the other hand, increased by 1.17pc.

Figures of 11 items received from the Oil Companies Advisory Committee positively contributed 0.79pc to the LSM growth.

Industry-specific data show that electronic products recorded the highest increase of 32.43pc, followed by iron and steel products 21.78pc, automobiles 17.82pc, coke and petroleum products 13.24pc, non-metallic mineral products 11.04pc, paper and board 9.38pc, engineering products 7.58pc, rubber products 6.21pc, pharmaceuticals 2.94pc, food, beverages and tobacco 2.78pc and textile 0.38pc.

The lower growth in production in FY18 was led by wood products, down 37.75pc, fertilisers 9.88pc, chemicals 0.23pc and leather products 0.19pc, respectively.

In the automobile sector, the production of tractors went up 33.20pc in 2017-18, jeeps and cars 21.35pc, motorcycles 12.97pc, light commercial vehicles 19.74pc, trucks 19.13pc. However, buses shrank by 29.87pc during the year under review.

The positive growth in the chemical sector was mainly driven by caustic soda, higher by 20.67pc while paints and varnishes-small recorded a drop of 2.41pc.

In pharmaceuticals, syrups and tablets went down by 3.8pc and 4.18pc, respectively. However, the production of capsules and injections rose by 47.23pc and 33.77pc.

In non-metallic mineral products, cement rose 11.14pc.

Published in Dawn, August 21st, 2018