The Jordan Chamber of Industry said on Monday that industrial exports during the first third of this year crossed the barrier of 2.38 billion dinars, reaching the highest value they reached during the last decade for the same period, with a growth rate of 53.7% compared to the same period in 2021.

The head of the Jordan and Amman Chambers of Industry, Fathi Al-Jaghbir, said in a press statement that the growth of exports came as a result of the efforts made in recent years, starting with cooperation and coordination with the relevant authorities, institutions and international organizations supporting the industry, in addition to participating in trade fairs. The most recent of these was the Baghdad Fair, which was held during December of last year. It clearly reflected positive results on industrial exports to Iraq, which led to a growth of 35% during the first four months of this year.

Jaghbir stated that industrial exports during the first third of this year reached about 133 markets from different countries of the world so far, the largest share of which came to the United States as the most prominent partner for industrial exports with 19.5% of the total industrial exports, as a result of the increase in exports of clothing and fertilizer products, India followed with a share of 18.1%, as a reflection of the growth in exports of nitrogen fertilizer products and chemical products.

He added that industrial exports rose by 98% to the Indian market, or about 222 million dinars, to reach about 450 million dinars during the first third of 2022, followed by the United States with the second highest rise, with a value of 93 million dinars.

Our industrial exports were also able to record remarkable numbers in non-traditional markets, as they rose to Brazil, Indonesia and Australia by 63, 60 and 32 million dinars, respectively, as a result of the increase in fertilizer exports, according to Jaghbir.

He noted that the industrial sector has achieved remarkable results in addition to the growth of industrial exports, by recording a growth in the industrial production index for the same period at a rate of 5.4% compared to the same period in 2021.

Jaghbir believes that the repercussions of the crisis represented by the high inflation rates during the past period, if it continues for the coming period, may negatively affect the national industry, as inflation rates will contribute to reducing the purchasing power of the Jordanian citizen, and thus affect the local demand within the market, in addition to the High production costs due to the high prices of global primary commodities, especially energy resources, which may lead to an increase in the final prices of locally manufactured products, which mainly suffer from high production costs.

He added that the coming period requires taking decisive decisions to support the national industry and maintain food security, and the continuation of the industrial sector’s ability to cover the needs of the local market within reasonable prices and within the reach of the Jordanian citizen, by supporting the national industry in all fields, specifically in the field of energy and production costs.

Jaghbir called for “finding soft and flexible financing programs supported by the Central Bank due to the recent rises in interest rates – in line with the policies of the Federal Bank – especially since the industrial sector facilities are already suffering from a lack of sufficient liquidity to finance their operations and production plans, as these rises will clearly affect the Credit facilities granted to industrial sector establishments, especially small and medium-sized ones, which constitute more than 98% of the total establishments operating in the sector.”