RIYADH: Saudi Arabia’s non-oil industrial operations remained 2.1 percent higher than a year ago in April, despite a larger drop in factory and mining output that pushed the Kingdom’s Industrial Production Index down 6.8 percent from March, according to government figures.
According to preliminary estimates from the General Authority for Statistics, the Industrial Production Index fell to 84.9 in April, down from 91 in March and 104.9 the same month last year. The reduction was primarily due to reduced mining and manufacturing activity. Mining and quarrying output plummeted 9.3 percent month on month, while manufacturing activity fell 4.8 percent.
The latest data come as the US-Iran confrontation drags on Middle Eastern industrial production, with Qatar reporting a 64.4 percent drop in output in March after hostilities erupted in late February. On a monthly basis, the sub-index of production activity showed a decrease of 4.8 percent, affected by the decline in the activity of the manufacture of coke and refined fuels, which decreased by 6.1 percent, and the manufacture of chemicals and chemical products, which declined by 9.7 percent,” stated GASTAT.
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