DOHA: The Industrial Production index (IPI) for January 2018 has increased to 106.6 points, up by 1.2 percent, compared to the previous month (December -2017).
The IPI increased 3 percent on year-on-year, according to data released by the Ministry of Development Planning and Statistics (MDPS).
The Industrial Production Index consists of three main components: mining with a relative importance of 83.6 percent, manufacturing with a relative importance of 15.2 percent, electricity with a relative importance of 0.7 percent, and finally water with a relative importance of 0.5 percent.
The index of the mining sector showed an increase by 2.1 percent compared to the previous month (December of 2017), due to a 2.2 percent increase the production of oil and natural gas; and 8 percent increase in mining and quarrying. When compared to the corresponding month of the previous year (January 2017), the IPI of Mining increased by 3 percent.
The manufacturing sector witnessed a decrease of 2.8 percent in January 2018 compared to the previous month (December-2017), and that was due to the decrease in production of four groups-manufacture of basic metals, manufacture of chemicals and chemical products, manufacture of beverages, and printing and reproduction.
However an increase was recorded in ‘manufacture of cement & other non-metallic mineral products; ‘manufacture of food products; manufacture of refined petroleum products; and manufacture of rubber and plastics products.
