Qatar's industrial production jumps 2.5% year-on-year in October 2022: PSA

Qatar's industrial production saw a 2.5% jump on an annualised basis this October, aided by strong growth in the extraction of crude petroleum and natural gas as well as in the production of beverages, food products and chemicals, according to the official data.However, the IPI witnessed a 3.3% decline month-on-month in the review period, said the figures released by the Planning and Statistics Authority (PSA).The PSA introduced IPI, a short-term quantitative index that measures the changes in the volume of production of a selected basket of industrial products over a given period with respect to a base period 2013.The mining and quarrying index, which has a relative weight of 82.46%, saw a 2.2% surge on a yearly basis owing to a 2.3% increase in the extraction of crude petroleum and natural gas and 10.7% in other mining and quarrying sectors.On a monthly basis, the index shrank 4.2% on account of a 4.2% contraction in the extraction of crude petroleum and natural gas, even as other mining and quarrying sectors saw a 2.7% jump.The manufacturing index, with a relative weight of 15.85%, was up 1.4% year-on-year in October 2022 owing to 8.1% increase in the production of beverages, 7.1% in chemicals and chemical products, 6.9% in food products and 2.2% in refined petroleum products.Nevertheless, there was a 13.9% contraction in the production of basic metals, 10% in cement and other non-metallic mineral products, 9.1% in printing and reproduction of recorded media and 4.3% in rubber and plastics products in the review period.On a monthly basis, the manufacturing index jumped 0.9% owing to a 1.8% expansion in the production of chemicals and chemical products, 1.4% in beverages, 1.3% in refined petroleum products, 0.3% in food products and 0.2% in cement and other non-metallic mineral products.However, there was a 4.6% slump in the production of rubber and plastics products, 2.7% in basic metals and 0.6% in printing and reproduction of recorded media in the review period.In its recent Article IV consultation report on Qatar, the International Monetary Fund said the industrial production in the country remained below pre-Covid levels as maintenances reduced hydrocarbon production in 2021.Electricity, which has 1.16% weight in the IPI basket, saw its index soar 17.9% year-on-year but shrank 3% month-on-month this October.In the case of water, which has a 0.53% weight, the index saw 38.5% and 3% surge on an annualised and monthly basis respectively in October 2022.