Sector Updates

Textile Industry  (December 2011)

Textile sector has remained a major contributor to the national economy comprising about 9% of the total GDP. It provides employment to 38% of the manufacturing workforce and contributes about 55% of the national exports. Being an export based industry; it is primarily dependent upon international markets particularly those of developed countries. More...

Chemical Industry  (December 2011)

Chemical industry plays a vital role in the economic development of Pakistan. There are numerous chemical products which are made and used as a basic input across various industries. The chlor-alkali business can be described as a subsector of the chemical industry which produces liquid chlorine, hydrochloric acid, sodium hypochlorite, bleaching earth, chlorinated paraffin, whereas, Caustic Soda (Sodium Hydroxide- NaOH) is the key product of this sector. More...

Sugar Industry  (October 2011)

Sugar industry, the second largest after textiles, currently has 86 factories in operation countrywide, with an installed capacity of 7.0 million tonnes of sugar annually. The industry, ranking 15th largest globally, produces one of the finest quality sugar of international standard and directly employs over 30,000 personnel. More...

Fertilizer Industry  (April 2011)

The fertilizer products are variations of three primary soil nutrients, namely nitrogen (N), phosphorous (P) and potassium (K). It is the suitability of a nutrient for crop that determines the usage of a particular fertilizer product. Pakistan’s soil is deficient in nitrogen and phosphate; thereby an optimal combination of these nutrients is necessary to achieve higher yield levels. However, the availability and price of a product at a given point in time impacts the demand pattern... More...

Confectionery Industry  (April 2011)

The formal confectionery industry in Pakistan is dominated by few large players i.e. Hilal (20%), CandyLand (15%), Mayfair (12%), JoJo (12%) and others (41%). The availability of adequate infrastructure and financial resources enables these large players to operate with a range of branded products. The type of products includes Candies, Chews, Jellies, Chocolates, Wafers, Lollypops and Snacks. While the big players comprise registered companies, small scale players are largely operating with single unit machines. More...

Power Generation Industry  (February 2011)

Power generation business can be broadly categorized into three phases i.e. generation, transmission and distribution. Over the years, power sector in Pakistan has evolved into a public private partnership with several Independent Power Producers (IPPs) entering the market. In the public sector, there is one major player namely; WAPDA... More...

LPG Industry  (January 2011)

Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) is a naturally occurring hydrocarbon fuel in gas and oil fields or extracted in oil refineries. The principal constituents of LPG are propane (C3H8) and Butane (C4H10) while other elements include ethane and pentane. It is a lighter gas than other petroleum products. More...

Textile Industry  (June 2010)

The global textile and garment industry also has been hit hard by the global financial crisis. The impact on the textile garment, leather and footwear sectors has been dramatic. Since June 2008 over 8,200 factories have been closed and an estimated 11.8 million workers have lost their jobs. Further 3 million jobs are estimated to be at risk worldwide. More...

Sugar Industry  (March 2010)

Sugarcane is one of the most important cash crops and the industry is considered as the driving engine of the rural economy after agrarian economy in many countries. In several developing countries both the crop and industry is termed as a vehicle for rural uplift and development. The sugar industry is cyclical in nature. The harvesting of sugar cane is dependent on weather as well as the availability of adequate water. One kg of fertilizer nutrient produces about 114 kg of stripped sugarcane. The sugarcane yield and recovery rates are considered as the determinants of supply raw and refined sugar. With growing population across the globe and ever-increasing sugar based products, the demand for sugar is continuously increasing. More...

Mutual Funds Review  (Dec 2008)

Fund performance is interplay between management strategy and market dynamics. Our capital markets have been characterized by significant volatility. Even though year-on-year index returns depict upward rally, with 66% return for 2003, 39% for 2004, 54% for 2005, 5% for 2006 and finally 40% in 2007, a breakdown into monthly returns shows that the index did not follow a straight upward trajectory. The average monthly returns graphed below, reflect the volatility over this period. More...

JCR-VIS considers the General Insurance Sector to be under significant stress   (Dec 2008)

Karachi, December 24, 2008: The insurance sector is one of the key pillars of an economy, with growth trends in premium and investment avenues reliant upon GDP growth and state of capital markets. Amidst weakening macroeconomic fundamentals, JCR-VIS Credit Rating Company Ltd. (JCR-VIS) believes that there is significant stress on the general insurance sector, as reflected in performance of both the underwriting and investment management functions. More...

JCR-VIS Credit Rating Company Limited has decided to withhold further ranking updates. Subsequent to year ended June 2008, the period for which last ranking update was made for equity funds, the stock market has experienced significant decline. The KSE-100 index shed over 3,000 points, following which a floor at 9,144 was fixed as of the prices of August 27, 2008.More...