Industries Ministry's Review Shows Growth in 27 Products

A total of 4,900 tons of acrylic fiber were produced during the period, up by a whopping 554.3% year-on-year.

The production of washing machines rose by 53.2% to reach 880,500 sets.

Aluminum ingot output reached a total of 347,600 tons, showing a 51.2% rise.

Television production stood at 995,000 sets to register a year-on-year increase of around 44.7%.

A total of 519,000 combine harvesters were produced during the period, indicating a 44.2% YOY rise.

The output of refrigerators and freezers went up by 30.8% to reach more than 1.68 million sets.

More than 229,100 tires were produced during the 10 months, registering a 22.2% growth.

Synthetic fiber production rose by 20.9% YOY to stand at 230,700 tons and carbon black production amounted to 115,700 tons, showing a YOY increase of 17.4%.

Copper cathode production saw a YOY increase of 15.1% to stand at 239,700 tons.

The production of pickup trucks totaled 68,298, up by 14% compared with the first 10 months of last year.

The output of passenger vehicles reached 700,800, up by 13.9% YOY.

Around 17,713 tractors were manufactured over the period, indicating a 13.6% rise compared with the similar period of last year.

Cement production reached 57.89 million tons, up 12.7% YOY.

The production of particle boards stood at 658,300 cubic meters, up 8.9% YOY; petrochemical products were at 50.7 million tons, up 7.9% YOY; industrial and motor oil production stood at 544,900 tons, up 7.5% YOY; steel production was close to 20.95 million tons, up 7.3% YOY; crude steel at 23.78 million tons, up 6.9% YOY; cigarettes at over 47 billion, up 4% YOY; fibers at 1.32 million cubic meters, up 3.9% YOY; cardboard at 449,000 tons, up 2% YOY; shoes and other kinds of footwear at 113.3 million pairs, up 1.5% YOY; sheet glass at 961,600 tons, up 0.7% YOY; human medicine at 40.7 billion items, up 0.5% YOY; coal concentrate at nearly 1.38 million tons, up 0.5% YOY and detergent powder production reached 526,100 tons, up 0.3% YOY.

Industrial PMI About to Break Above Threshold

The Purchasing Managers’ Index for industries during the 10th month of the current fiscal year (Dec. 21, 2020-Jan. 19) settled at 49.79 from 49.30 in the preceding month (Nov. 21-Dec. 20, 2020), indicating a 0.49-point or a 0.99% increase.

The announcement was made by the Statistics and Economic Analysis Center of Iran Chamber of Commerce, Industries, Mines and Agriculture. The center is measuring PMI, known by its Farsi acronym Shamekh, in Iran for the past 28 months. 

PMI is an indicator of economic health for manufacturing and services sectors. It provides information about current business conditions to companies’ decision-makers, analysts and purchasing managers. 

The headline PMI is a number from 0 to 100. A PMI above 50 represents an expansion when compared with the previous month. A PMI reading under 50 represents a contraction and a reading at 50 indicates no change. The further away from 50, the greater the level of change. 

PMI is based on a monthly survey sent to senior executives of more than 400 companies. It is based on five major survey areas: new orders (30%), raw material inventory (10%), production (25%), supplier deliveries (15%) and employment (20%). 

The survey poses 12 questions about business conditions and any changes, whether it is improving, no changes or deteriorating. 

Industries categorized as “others” posted the highest PMI with a reading of 58.93 while “non-metal mineral industries” registered the lowest PMI reading with 41.92.

The “production” sub-index for Iran’s industrial sector increased from 47.94 in the eighth month (Oct. 22-Nov. 20, 2020) to 50.75 in the ninth month (Nov. 21-Dec. 20, 2020) but fell to 48.65 in the 10th month (Dec. 21, 2020-Jan. 19).  

“Vehicle and spare parts industries” recorded the highest PMI of the production sub-index with a reading of 63.33 while non-metal minerals registered the lowest PMI with a reading of 34.62. 

The “new orders” sub-index slid from 44.02 in the month ending Nov. 20 to 43.51 in the month ending Dec. 20 but jumped to 44.80 in the month ending Jan. 19, with the top performing industries being “rubber and plastic” (72.22) and worst being “non-metal minerals” (26.92). 

The “supplier deliveries” sub-index, which measures how fast deliveries are made, improved from 55.32 in the month ending Nov. 20 to 56.43 in the month ending Dec. 20 to 58.49 in the month ending Jan. 19.   

The highest supplier deliveries PMI was posted by “textile industries” and “vehicle and spare parts” with a reading of 66.67 and the lowest was recorded for “rubber and plastic industries” and “non-metal minerals” with a reading of 50. 

The “raw material inventory” sub-index grew from 42.49 in the month ending Nov. 20 to 48.92 in the month ending Dec. 20 but fell to 46.29 in the month ending Jan. 19.  

“Non-metal minerals” posted the highest PMI (69.23) for the “raw material inventory” sub-index while “food industries” registered the lowest PMI reading of 29.03 among all groups. 

The PMI reading of “employment” sub-index stood above the threshold. It increased from 49.43 in the month ending Nov. 20 to 51 in the month ending Dec. 20 to 53.94 in the month ending Jan. 19.

“Clothing and leather industries” posted the highest employment PMI reading (61.54) whereas “wood, paper and furniture” posted the lowest PMI of the sub-index (46.88).