97,000 New Jobs in Industrial Sector Over Nine Months

EghtesadOnline: The number of jobs created by industries in the nine months to Dec. 20, 2020, increased by 29% compared with the corresponding period of the previous year, a deputy minister of industries, mining and trade said.

News ID: ۷۸۵۹۴۱

07 February 2021

“A total of 97,000 jobs were added to the country’s industrial sector during the period under review,” he was quoted as saying by IRNA.

“Five thousand permits were issued for new manufacturing enterprises during the period, indicating an 8.3% growth year-on-year.”

Industrial Permits in Review

A total of 3.65 quadrillion rials ($15 billion) worth of investments are expected to be made in the industrial units, for which establishment permits were issued during the nine months of the current Iranian year (March 20-Dec. 20, 2020), showing an increase of 50% compared with the similar period of last year.

A total of 27,953 establishment permits were issued over the period, registering a 40.3% growth year-on-year, the latest report released by the Ministry of Industries, Mining and Trade shows.

These projects are expected to create 627,548 jobs, which are 37.8% more compared with the year before.

A total of 1.48 quadrillion rials ($6 billion) have been invested in projects for which operating licenses were issued during the nine-month period under review, indicating a 282.2% hike year-on-year.

A total of 5,083 operating licenses were issued during the period, which shows an 8.3% rise YOY. These projects are expected to create 97,012 jobs, 28.6% more compared with last year’s corresponding period.

Also 462 mineral production permits were issued during the period, which have created a total of 3,704 jobs, registering a 3.7% rise and 0.3% decline respectively compared with the similar period of last year.

Exploration costs stood at 844 billion rials ($3.5 million), registering a 9% increase YOY.

Growth in Production of 19 Types of Goods

The Ministry of Industries, Mining and Trade's review of the first nine months of the current Iranian year (March 20-Dec. 20) shows the output of 19 industrial products (out of 27 under review) witnessed growth during the period compared with the corresponding period of the year before.

A total of 3,800 tons of acrylic fiber were produced during the period, up by a soaring 408.4% compared with last year’s similar period.

Production of washing machines rose by 59.1% to reach 769,400 machines.

Television production stood at 901,500 sets to register a year-on-year increase of around 57.6%.

A total of 434,000 combine harvesters were produced during the period under review, indicating a 39.5% YOY rise.

The output of refrigerators and freezers went up by 28.5% to reach more than 1.48 million sets.

Synthetic fiber production rose by 23.6% YOY to stand at around 206,200 tons.

Production of passenger vehicles reached 625,300, up by 18.8% YOY.

Carbon black production amounted to 103,400 tons, showing a YOY increase of 18.8%.

The production of pickup trucks totaled 60,983, up by 18.5% compared with the first nine months of last year.

Particle board production reached 607,300 cubic meters, up by 12.7% YOY.

Around 15,573 tractors were manufactured over the period, indicating a 12.6% rise compared with the similar period of last year.

More than 131,400 tons of auto tires were produced over the six months, indicating a 29.5% YOY growth.

Production of industrial and motor oil stood at 483,700 tons, up 8.8% YOY; petrochemical products reached 45.9 million tons, up 8.6% YOY; fibers at 1.18 million cubic meters, up 3.6% YOY; cigarettes at over 41.4 billion, up 3.2% YOY; detergent powder at 480,000 tons, up 2% YOY; human medicine at 36.4 billion items, up 1.8% YOY; cardboard at 399,900 tons, up 1.3% YOY; and shoes and other kinds of footwear stood at 99,800 pairs, up 1.2% YOY.

Vegetable oil production saw the sharpest decline of 26.5% YOY to reach 1.06 million tons.

Other products that saw a decline in production included leather with 29.2 million square feet, down 14.6% YOY; electric motors with more than 6.21 million devices, down 10.9% YOY; polyester filament sewing thread with 201,100 tons, down 9.7% YOY; evaporative coolers with 786,100 devices, down 8.8% YOY; buses, minibuses and vans with 1,362 vehicles, down 8.7% YOY; polyester fibers with 166,300 tons, down by 6.3% YOY; and different types of paper with 752,100 tons, down 3.2% YOY.

3.5% Improvement for Industrial PMI

The Purchasing Managers’ Index for industries during the ninth month of the current fiscal year (Nov. 21-Dec. 20) settled at 49.30 from 47.63 in the preceding month (Oct. 22-Nov. 20), indicating a 1.67-point or a 3.51% 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 27 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.

“Rubber and plastic industries” posted the highest PMI with a reading of 57.8 during the month under review while “clothing and leather” registered the lowest PMI reading with 32.5.

The “production” sub-index for Iran’s industrial sector decreased from 52.16 in the seventh month (Sept. 22-Oct. 21) to 47.94 in the eighth month (Oct. 22-Nov. 20) but increased to 50.75 in the ninth month (Nov. 21-Dec. 20).

Industries categorized as “other recorded the highest PMI of the production sub-index” with a reading of 66.7 while “clothing and leather” registered the lowest PMI with a reading of 27.3.

The “new orders” sub-index declined from 55.42 in the month ending Oct. 21 to 44.02 in the month ending Nov. 20 to 43.51 in the month ending Dec. 20, with the top performing industries being “wood, paper and furniture” (60) and worst being “clothing and leather” (22.7%).

The “supplier deliveries” sub-index, which measures how fast deliveries are made, improved from 54.66 in the month ending Oct. 21 to 55.32 in the month ending Nov. 20 to 56.43 in the month ending Dec. 20.

The highest “supplier deliveries” PMI was posted by “textile industries” with a reading of 72.2 and the lowest was recorded for “clothing and leather industries” with a reading of 40.9.

The “raw material inventory” sub-index grew from 37.46 in the month ending Oct. 21 to 42.49 in the month ending Nov. 20 to 48.92 in the month ending Dec. 20.

“Wood, paper and furniture industries” and industries categorized as “others” posted the highest PMI (66.7) for the “raw material inventory” sub-index while “petroleum and gas products industries” registered the lowest PMI reading of 32.7 among all groups.

The PMI reading of “employment” sub-index stood above the threshold. It decreased from 53.08 in the month ending Oct. 21 to 49.43 in the month ending Nov. 20, but rebounded to 51 in the month ending Dec. 20.

“Rubber and plastic industries” and “textile industries” posted the highest “employment” PMI reading (61.1) whereas “machinery and home appliances” posted the lowest PMI of the sub-index (40.5).