The value of industrial production in public and private sector companies, in which 25 people or more work, declined in the third quarter (Q3) of 2015 by about 9.2% compared to the second quarter (Q2) of the same year, according to the Central Agency for Public Mobilisation and Statistics (CAPMAS). In a report issued on Wednesday, CAPMAS said the value of industrial production, without petroleum products, registered EGP 84.8bn in Q3 of 2015, compared to EGP 93.9bn in Q2 of the same year. The report mentioned that the production value of Q3 of 2014 was about EGP 80.4bn. Coke and petroleum products represent the most important economic activities, contributing to 20.4% of the industrial production value, followed by the food production industry with 12.9%, and then the iron and steel industry activity by 5.9%. The production value of the food production industry registered approximately EGP 19.4bn in Q3 of 2015, compared to EGP 23.2bn in Q2, a decline of 16.2%, due to the seasonality of the sugar companies' production and the decline in supplies of crude oil to edible oil refineries, as well as the decline in the supplies of wheat to mills, according to CAPMAS. The report mentioned that the production value of the industry of non-metallic minerals (bricks, glass, and cement) registered approximately EGP 8.4bn in Q3 of 2015, compared to EGP 10.4bn in Q2, a decline of 18.9%. The report attributed this decline to the stability of cement prices since the beginning of the year, which resulted in the companies reducing production. It added that the production value of the iron and steel industry registered EGP 8.9bn in Q3 of 2015, compared to EGP10.3bn in Q2, a decline of 13.5%, due to maintenance work in some of the companies.
