New data released by the Iran Chamber of Cooperatives show the Purchasing Managers’ Index for the construction sector is nearing the threshold but remains contractionary.
The PMI settled at 48.98 in the 11th month of the current Iranian year (Jan. 21-Feb. 19), up from 42.3 in the preceding month (Dec. 22, 2022-Jan. 20), which indicates a 15.79% increase.
PMI is an indicator of the health of economic sectors and provides information about business conditions to decision-makers, analysts and purchasing managers.
Raw material inventory, employment conditions, new orders, supplier deliveries and export/production conditions are among the criteria surveyed, yielding a final score of between 1 and 100.
If a business scores 50, it means that no change has been perceived compared to the previous month, while scores higher or lower than 50 indicate that the business is expanding or contracting respectively.
The survey includes 12 business criteria and any changes, whether it be improving, no changes or deteriorating. It is measured through a monthly survey sent to senior executives of 100 companies active in the real-estate sector.
It is based on five major survey areas: "New Orders" with a coefficient of 30%, "Raw Material Inventory" (10%), "Production" (25%), "Supplier Deliveries" (15%) and "Employment" (20%).
The "New Orders" index stood at 51.02 in the month ending Feb. 19, indicating a 22.2% increase compared with 41.75 in the month ending Jan. 20.
The "Supplier Deliveries" index, which measures how fast deliveries are made, increased by 33.4% from 39.01 in the month ending Jan. 20 to 52.04 in the month ending Feb. 19.
The "Raw Materials (construction materials) Inventory" index grew by 36.01% from 39.01 in the month ending Jan. 20 to 53.06 in the month ending Feb. 19.
The "Employment" index increased by 7.63% from 48.35 in the month ending Jan. 20 to 52.04 in the month ending Feb. 19.
To calculate housing PMI, seven secondary criteria were also surveyed by ICC, including "raw material purchase prices", which stood at 90.1 in the month ending Jan. 20. The sub-index decreased by 6.57% to stand at 84.18 in the month ending Feb. 19.
"Warehouse Inventory" increased by 4.2% to reach 51.53 in the 11th Iranian month from 49.45 in the 10th month.
The "Exports" sub-index settled at 49.49 in the month under review from 49.45 in the month ending Jan. 20, registering a 0.08% increase.
"Prices of Products and Services" decreased by 0.1% to stand at 79.59 in the month ending Feb. 19 from 79.67 in the previous month.
"Fuel Consumption" grew by 13.48% from 49.45 in the 10th month of the current fiscal year to 56.12 in the 11th fiscal month.
"Sales" increased from 44.5 in the 10th fiscal month to 54.59 in the 11th month to register a 22.67% rise.
The sub-index of "Performance Expectations for the Following Month" settled at 58.67 in the month ending Feb. 19 from 45.05 in the previous month, showing a 30.23% increase.
