Qatar registers 1.7% rise in April IPI, says PSA

Tribune News Network Doha Qatar’s Industrial Production Index (IPI) amounted to 99.8 points in April 2021, an increase of 1.7 percent when compared to the...

Tribune News NetworkDoha Qatar’s Industrial Production Index (IPI) amounted to 99.8 points in April 2021, an increase of 1.7 percent when compared to the corresponding month in 2020 and a decrease of 0.9 percent compared to the previous month, according to data released by the Planning and Statistics Authority (PSA) on Saturday. The PSA data showed that the ‘Mining’ index witnessed a decrease of 0.4 percent in April compared to the previous month as a result of the decrease in the quantities of “crude oil petroleum and natural gas” by 0.4 percent. The ‘other mining and quarrying’ segment showed an increase of 0.4 percent. When compared to the corresponding month of the previous year (April 2020), the IPI of Mining increased by 2.6 percent.The index of ‘Manufacturing’ showed a decrease of 3.2 percent compared to the previous month. The groups that showed a decrease included printing and reproduction of recorded media by 14.1 percent, followed by ‘manufacture of cement and other non-metallic mineral products’ by 10.6 percent, ‘manufacture of food products’ by 7.9 percent and ‘manufacture of chemicals and chemical products’ by 6.3 percent, ‘manufacture of beverages’ by 4 percent, and ‘manufacture of basic metals’ by 2.5 percent. However, an increase was recorded in ‘manufacture of refined petroleum products’ by 15.6 percent and ‘manufacture of rubber and plastics products’ by 0.8 percent.On the other hand, in terms of annual change, a decrease of 1.4 percent was recorded. The ‘manufacture of food products” index went down by 17.4 percent, ‘manufacture of beverages’ by 11.7 percent, and ‘manufacture of chemicals and chemical products’ by 9.5 percent. However, an increase was recorded in ‘manufacture of cement and other non-metallic mineral products’ by 41.4 percent, ‘manufacture of basic metals’ by 23.8 percent, ‘manufacture of rubber and plastics products’ by 16.2 percent and ‘manufacture of refined petroleum products’ by 8.7 percent.There was no production in April 2020 for printing and reproduction of recorded media, due to the measures taken to prevent the spread out of COVID-19.An increase of 4.9 percent was noticed in the production of ‘electricity’ between April 2021 and March 2021, while no change was noticed when compared with April 2020.A decrease of 7.5 percent was noticed in the production of ‘water’ between April 2021 and March 2021. Comparing with the corresponding month last year, a decrease of 31.4 percent was recorded.