ICC to Publish Monthly PMI Report on Housing Sector

EghtesadOnline: Iran Chamber of Cooperatives will soon start publishing monthly reports on Purchasing Managers’ Index, under the Farsi acronym "Shamekh", related to Iran’s housing sector, an official with ICC said.

News ID: ۷۸۴۹۲۶

07 October 2019

“The first such report will provide information about current conditions of housing business for the Iranian month ending Oct. 22,” Ali Moti-Jahani was also quoted as saying by IRNA.

PMI is an indicator of economic health for manufacturing and services sectors. The purpose of PMI is to provide information about current business conditions to company decision-makers, analysts and purchasing managers.

It is almost a year that the Statistics and Economic Analysis Center of the Iran Chamber of Commerce, Industries, Mines and Agriculture is measuring PMI for Iran’s industrial sector, according to Financial Tribune.

The center's latest report showed PMI in the fifth month of the current fiscal year (July 23-Aug. 22) settled at 45.79 from 50.07 in the preceding month (June 22-July 22), indicating a 4.28-point or 8.54% decline month-on-month.

The disappointing PMI signals an increased risk of slowdown in Iran’s economy.

The headline PMI is a number from 0 to 100, such that over 50 represents an expansion when compared with the previous month. A PMI reading under 50 indicates a contraction and a reading of 50 implies no 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 levels (10%), production (25%), supplier deliveries (15%) and employment (20%).

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

At present, ICCIMA publishes reports only on Iran’s industrial sector and its 12 subset fields. It plans to survey services and agricultural sectors in the near future.

“Plastic and rubber production” industry posted the highest PMI with a reading of 56.3 during the month under review, while "wood, paper and furniture" registered the lowest PMI reading with 35.9.