Major Industries Of Pakistan

The Industrial Sector is the second largest individual sector of the economy accounting for 24% of the GDP. The activity in the manufacturing sector is comprised of large, medium and small-scale. The development of industrial sector means more investment, employment and production. Increase in production will increase the national income. The growth rate of industrial sector for the year 2009-2010 remained 4.9 percent %. Industrial sector contribution to GDP (Gross Domestic Product) for the year 2009-2010 remained 18.5%. Industrial sector earns a good amount of foreign exchange for the country which is used for repairing national debt and for import oil and machinery important industries are given below: Also read Major economies of world.

1. Textile Industry Of Pakistan

The Textile industry in Pakistan is the largest manufacturing industry in Pakistan. Pakistan is the 8th largest exporter of textile commodities in Asia. Pakistan is the 4th largest producer of cotton

and it contributes 5% to the global spinning capacity. The textile industry is the second largest employment sector in Pakistan and it employs about 45% of the total labor force in the country. In the 1950s, textile manufacturing emerged as a central part of Pakistan’s industrialization. Cotton is the largest segment of textile production. Other fibers produced include synthetic fiber, filament yarn, art silk, wool, and jute.

Textiles comprise 57% of Pakistan’s export revenues. However, in recent years textile exports have declined significantly. The Pakistan Textile Exporters Association recently requested the government to take significant measures to ensure the growth of textile exports.

2. Sports Industry Of Pakistan

Pakistan is one of the greatest exporters of sports items. Almost all the goods of sports are exported outside the Pakistan because there is a very high demand of Pakistan’s goods of sports in every country of the world. In Pakistan almost all sports related items are produced but the famous products are soccer ball, cricket bat, cricket ball, tennis ball etc. Sports industry of Pakistan has even manufactured the soccer ball for the FIFA World cup of the year 1994.

The sports industry of Pakistan lies in the city of Sialkot which is a part of the province of Punjab. All the items of sports of the best quality are manufactured in the city of Sialkot and sports industry in Sialkot is the main factor of Sialkot’s economy as it earns great profit from it due to the high demand of sports good in international market. All other goods related to the sports are also produced in the sports industry of Pakistan like sports bags, sports jackets, sports cap etc.

3. Sugar Industry Of Pakistan

The sugar industry plays an important role in the economy of the country. It is the second largest industry after textiles. The output of sugar as well as the production of sugarcane increased at an average rate 24 percent. At the time of independence in 1947, there were only two sugar factories in Pakistan. The output of these factories was not sufficient for meeting the domestic requirements. The country started to import sugar from other countries and huge foreign exchange was spent on this item. So, to meet the requirements of sugar the Government setup a commission in 1957 to frame a scheme for the development of sugar industry.

At present there are 76 sugar mills operating in Pakistan. In Pakistan about 99% of the sugar is extracted from sugar production than the requirements and in adverse years the country falls short resulting in imports.

4. Cement Industry Of Pakistan

Cement industry is one of the few industries that existed in Pakistan before the partition of the sub-continent. The annual production of the cement at the time of the creation of Pakistan was only 300000 tons per year. At the time of independence in 1947 there were four cement factories with an installed capacity of 470,000 tons per annum. These units were located at Karachi, Rohri, Dandot and WAH. In 1956 PIDC established two plants at Daudkel and Hyderabad and subsequently more plants were established in the private sector.

The major reason for the existence of this industry is the availability of the raw materials. Pakistan is a country rich in deposits of limestone, shale and gypsum, which are the main ingredients for the production of cement. The cement market in Pakistan is divided into two zones: The North zone and the South zone. The North zone includes Punjab, Azad Kashmir, KPK. and the upper region of Baluchistan. The remaining area of the Baluchistan and entire Sindh constitute the Southern zone. The demand for cement has grown at a steady rate of 8% in the northern region while 4% in the southern region. The way the new plants are being set up and the existing plants are undertaking expansion. The demand and supply situation is bound to create surpluses. New projects are being undertaken in the cement sector.

5. Fertilizer Industry Of Pakistan

Over the past years, this sector has been facing several challenges due to insufficient gas supplies, high gas tariffs and heavy taxation. The capacity of Pakistan’s fertilizer production is 6 million tons per year. The fertilizer sector is heavily supported by the government because of its significant position in the agricultural sector. At present government started to focus on strengthening the agricultural and fertilizer sectors. Special packages are announced for the farmers in order to support the agricultural sector and also providing subsidies on fertilizers.

Further both urea and Di-ammonia phosphate prices are deregulated and there is no excise duty or sales tax on fertilize sales. Government also provides loans to small farmers. The soil of Pakistan is to be deficient in nitrogen so, Urea is the most used fertilizer which eliminates this factor. Urea represents 65% of total fertilizer consumed and Di-ammonium phosphate (DAP), which accounts for 18%, are the main types of fertilizer used in Pakistan. The main market for urea is wheat growers, followed by cotton growers, rice and sugarcane cultivators. Although urea produced in Pakistan cannot meet demand of local community, so the rest is imported from the other country. However, the only way to get a higher production of agriculture output is through a more widespread use of fertilizers. Read more