Iran reports consistent growth across manufacturing sector

The figures cited in a report published by the official IRNA news agency on Wednesday showed that production of key manufacturing goods, including home appliances, cars, steel and cement in Iran grew steadily between March 20, 2020 and February 18 this year compared to the 11 months to late February 2020.

The figures showed that car output rose by 18.4 percent year on year in late February to reach 829,100 units while manufacturers reported robust growth in production for pickup trucks, tractors and farming machinery in the same period.

Home appliance output surged by up to 50 percent, said the report, as manufacturers churned out record numbers of TV sets, washing machines and fridges.

Manufacturing activity was up in the metals and mining sector, showed the MIMT figures, as steel output reached nearly 23 million metric tons in the 11 months to late February, a surge of seven percent compared to the similar period in 2019-2020.

Copper cathode output was up by 16.7 percent over the same period at 0.265 million tons while aluminum production surged by 56 percent to nearly 0.4 million tons.

Cement output rose by 12.5 percent year on year in February to nearly 63 million tons, while coal concentrate output was up 1.9 percent at over 1.5 million tons and glass production reached 1.07 million tons, an increase of 2.4 percent year on year.

Output for acrylic fibers rose considerably at over 293 percent to 5,000 tons while growth was consistent for other petrochemical products at 9.4 percent for the 11-month period, according to MIMT figures.

Experts believe increased manufacturing activity has boosted Iran’s chances of relying less on normal crude revenues in a year the country has been grappling with a double burden of the coronavirus pandemic and the US sanctions.