prijava
SARAJEVO, September 18 (FENA) - Despite the fact that the volume of industrial production has stagnated in the last few months, we believe that the demand in the European Union will be sufficient to continue the growth of Bosnia and Herzegovina's metal industry, Director of the Industry and Services Sector of the FBiH Chamber of Commerce, Almin Mališević, told FENA.
The export of the FBiH metal industry for the first six months of this year amounted to 2.6 billion KM. Mališević noted that the export of the electrical industry amounted to 477 million KM, so that the export of the metal and electrical industry amounts to more than three billion KM. Compared to the same period last year, when the export of the FBiH metal industry amounted to 1.73 billion KM, this is a growth of 50 percent.
At the same time, the import of the FBiH metal and electrical industry amounted to 3.95 billion KM and is 50 percent higher compared to the same period in 2021. In the first half of the year, as Mališević added, military industry had similar export results as the year before, and it can be expected that exports will increase in the second half of the year.
Exports from the Federation of BiH in the first six months of this year amounted to 6.2 billion KM, and exports of the metal and electrical industry to 3.09 billion KM, which means that the participation of the metal and electrical industry in the total exports of the FBiH is almost 50 percent.
“The main conclusion when we talk about the situation in the metal industry of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina is great instability and uncertainty. Namely, after ten successful years, especially in 2018 and 2019, coronavirus pandemic occurred, which announced a period of great challenges. New problems arise, primarily due to the difficulty in transporting goods and services, and the situation culminated when the war in Ukraine began. There was a shortage of certain raw materials used in the metal industry, and long delivery times, which caused a huge increase in the prices of almost all raw materials,” said Mališević.
Bearing in mind the proximity to the EU, as well as the fact that BiH's metal industry is recognized as stable, reliable and equipped with the necessary equipment and personnel, as he added, there was an increased demand for parts and products from companies from BiH.
It is known that the products of the BiH metal industry mostly end up on the EU market, so any disruption in the EU has a significant impact on BiH as well. Currently, as Mališević said, due to the increasing prices of energy sources, the European metal industry is losing its competitiveness on the world market. Steel production in Europe is in decline and this can lead to new problems for BiH companies as well.
Investments are at a low level and, as Mališević said, this is an issue that should be resolved at the highest level in Bosnia and Herzegovina. He added that the global disturbances in the market caused the shortage and then the rise in the prices of raw materials.
(FENA) A. B.
