Processing industry grows – Serbian rubber sector records surplus

Three years ago, the packaging sector in Turkey put the goods worth USD 20 billion in the market. They continued to grow and soon exported 1.7 million tons of packaging to 180 countries, and the plan is for the production of packaging in Turkey to be worth USD 30 billion by 2024, a third of which would be exported. This has led Serbian producers to take part in several fairs in Turkey this year.

The Plastpak fair in Izmir was visited by 13 companies, and 35 companies attended the 24th Eurasia Packaging fair in Istanbul. Plast Eurasia Istanbul was attended by 23 company representatives, and representatives of the Serbian economy also took park in bilateral talks within the chemistry cluster. The Association for the Chemical, Rubber and Non-metal Industry of the Chamber of Commerce of Serbia and representatives of seven companies from Serbia took part in bilateral talks at the invitation of the industrial chamber of Bursa.

– These fairs are important for the development of the production of plastic products in Serbia, as they showcase new technology and machinery. The equipment is robotized to the maximum and there’s a great progress in innovations when it comes to the equipment for the production of plastic, but even more so in finding new biodegradable materials. Several companies have bought new machines, and some companies buy finished plastic products and packaging in Turkey and sell them in the Serbian market – says Dragan Stevanovic, the secretary of the Association for the Chemical, Rubber and Non-metal Industry of the Chamber of Commerce of Serbia.

The industrial production within the processing industry in 2.8% higher than in the first eight months of 2018 compared to the same period in 2017. A growth of 2.1% in the production of rubber and plastic products was recorded in this period.

In the first eight months of 2018, EUR 937 million worth of rubber and plastic products were exported from Serbia, and the total imports amounted to EUR 551 million, making this sector one of the rare ones to realize a foreign trade surplus (EUR 386 million). Observing the plastic sector alone, the imports were worth EUR 795.3 million and the exports stood at EUR 542.9 million. The biggest foreign trade was realized with the countries Serbia has signed free trade agreements with. EU member states account for 64.3% of the total trade and the CEFTA countries are the second most important partner.

There are 2,054 companies in the plastic sector, half of which are exporters, whereas a third of them realize a net surplus in their international trade. Plastic products are exported to 80 countries.

Privredna komora Srbije

CCIS

Plastpak Izmir

Eurasia Packaging Istanbul

Bursa industrial chamber

Dragan Stevanovic

packaging market

plastic products

chemical industry

rubber industry

processing industry

export of rubber products

export of plastic products