New factory registrations drop in Q3 2 published : 8 Jul 2021 at 08:00 2 The Covid-19 pandemic has presented an unpleasant picture for new factory registrations, with a sharp decrease in new factories and facility expansions in the third quarter of 2021, according to the Department of Industrial Works (DIW). From October 2020 to June 2021, factory expansion projects decreased by 70.23% year-on-year to 209 factories while the number of factory registrations went down by 6.33% year-on-year to 1,894 factories. New registrants were interested in the food, metal and non-metal businesses. Industry Minister Suriya Jungrungreangkit said many businesses have delayed new investment plans or factory expansion projects since last year when Thailand was hit by the pandemic.