"About 46.11 trillion rials [over $184 million] were invested to help these industrial units become operational again … Nearly 26,000 jobs were created or reinstated as a result," Ali Rasoulian, deputy industries minister, was quoted as saying by IRNA.
The ministry plans to prop up 1,600 more industrial units in the current fiscal year and reopen 800 units located in industrial towns, he added.
Rasoulian said the government has allocated 50 trillion rials ($200 million) for the implementation of the plan this year.
About 820 industrial towns across the country host 45,000 industrial units, 9,500 of which have been shuttered, laying off thousands of jobholders.
About 93% of total industrial units in Iran are considered small, 4% medium and 3% large.
About 35,000 small and large units are under construction.
The revived units had been either partially or completely shut down due to the lack of working capital, loss of markets, inability to update technology and lack of investment.
Official statistics show a total of 1,444 industrial units were revived in the 2019-20 fiscal year.
Job Creation Up by 30% in Industrial Parks, Zones
A total of 41,501 jobs were created in Iran’s industrial parks and special economic zones during the last Iranian year (March 2020-21), showing more than a 30% increase compared with the year before, according to the official.
“These jobs were mostly generated in the fields of production of metals, chemicals, food and beverages, non-metal minerals, cellulose, textile, electricity and electronics, as well as different services,” he added.
Rasoulian noted at least 3,500 enterprises will be launched in the current fiscal year (started March 20), which are estimated to create over 55,000 jobs across the country.
“Last year, Iran Small Industries and Industrial Parks Organization dedicated a total of 4,513 hectares to set up around 10,627 industrial units in the country’s industrial parks and zones, registering an 82% and 83% rise compared with the previous year.”
With a total of 823 industrial parks and zones, three special economic zones, 78 specialized industrial and economic zones, six science parks, 38 centers for technological and business services, two telecommunications and software service complexes, 46,822 production firms and 3,078 workshops, ISIPO has so far created 941,558 jobs in different Iranian provinces.
Industrial PMI Above Threshold
The Purchasing Managers’ Index for industries during the 12th month of last fiscal year (Feb. 19-March 20) settled at 57.29 from 58.34 in the preceding month (Jan. 20-Feb. 18), indicating a 1.05-point or a 1.8% decrease.
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 30 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 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 plastics” industries posted the highest PMI with a reading of 62.92 while “non-metal mineral industries” registered the lowest PMI reading with 51.25.
Growth in Output of 19 Industrial Products
The Ministry of Industries, Mining and Trade's review of the first 11 months of the last Iranian year (March 20, 2020-Feb. 18, 2021) shows that the output of 19 industrial products (out of 29 under review) experienced growth during the period compared with the corresponding period of the year before.
A total of 5,000 tons of acrylic fiber were produced during the 11 months to Feb. 18, up by a 293.2% year-on-year.
Production of washing machines rose by 49.9% to reach more than 1 million units.
A total of 591 combine harvesters were produced during the period under review, indicating a 48.9% YOY rise.
Television production stood at 1.13 sets to register a year-on-year increase of around 40%.
The output of refrigerators and freezers went up by 32.2% to reach more than 1.9 million.
More than 254,200 tons of auto tires were produced over the 11 months, indicating a 20.4% YOY growth.
Synthetic fiber production rose by 18.6% YOY to stand at 255,400 tons.
Production of passenger vehicles stood at 829,100, up by 18.4% YOY.
Carbon black production hit 127,800 tons, showing a YOY increase of 16.2%.
A total of 19,863 tractors were manufactured over the period, indicating a 15% rise compared with the similar period of the previous year.
Particle board production reached 726,600 cubic meters, up by 9.6% YOY.
Production of petrochemical totaled 55.7 million tons, up by 9.4% compared with the first 11 months of the year before.
Production of pickup trucks stood at 74,461, up 7.8% YOY; refined industrial and motor oil at 610,900 tons, up 7.3% YOY; fibers at 1.46 million cubic meters, up 4.7% YOY; cigarettes at over 52.3 billion, up 4.4% YOY; cardboard at 503,200 tons, up 3.5% YOY; shoes and other kinds of footwear at 127.5 million pairs, up 2.2% YOY and human medicine at 45.2 billion items, up 0.03% YOY;
Vegetable oil production saw a 16.2% YOY decline during the same period to 1.38 million tons; production of pesticides and insecticides stood at 29,600 tons, down 14.5% YOY; leather at 38 million square feet, down 11.6% YOY; evaporative coolers at 1.01 million devices, down 11.3% YOY; electric motors at 7.7 million devices, down 10.6% YOY; polyester filament sewing thread at 248,600 tons, down 9.3% YOY; buses, minibuses and vans at 1,743 vehicles, down 7.5% YOY; polyester fibers at 212,300 tons, down by 3.5% YOY; different types of paper at 930,500 tons, down 3.2% YOY and detergent powder at 580,800 tons, down 1% YOY.