Exports of chemical, pharmaceutical, rubber and non-metal industries up 33 percent

Exports of the chemical, pharmaceutical, rubber and non-metal industries in 2013 totaled about USD 2.3 billion, up 33 percent from the year before, it was said Friday at a session of the Serbian Chamber of Commerce's Group of Rubber and Rubber Products Manufacturers.

Vekoslav Sosevic, the secretary of the SCC Association of Chemical and Pharmaceutical Industry, Rubber and Non-Metal Industry, presented the data that 2013 imports totaled about USD 4 billion, up 2.2 percent from 2012.

The rubber industry produced a total of about 92,000 tons of rubber and rubber products and exported USD 496 million worth of rubber products last year, up 19 percent from 2012.

Domestic manufacturers of rubber products were both the biggest exporters and the biggest importers. They mainly exported their goods to the EU, Russia and Turkey, and imported products from Germany, Poland, Italy, and China.

President of the Group Milos Nenezic, the managing director of Trayal, suggested that all members of the Group should submit their respective development project so the plans could be unified with the help of the Serbian Chamber of Commerce, which should make it possible for them to apply, in a more efficient manner, for the Development Fund's favorable loans with one-year grace period.