Prices of Raw Materials and Production Costs Biggest Challenges to Economy

By the end of the year, the local economy expects a growth of sales and exports, a stable business climate and employment rate, but the biggest challenges that companies are facing are higher costs of purchasing energy, raw materials and secondary raw materials, as well as the growth of the prices of finished products, as shown by the latest survey by the Chamber of Commerce of Serbia (CCIS), “Business Activity of Companies in the Republic of Serbia”.

Done on a sample of more than 1,800 companies, this survey by the CCIS shows that around 80% of the subjects expect to end the year 2022 with the same or higher sales, 84% of the surveyed exporters expect stable exporting activities, mostly in agriculture, the food industry and services, whereas 93% subjects do not plan to reduce the number of employees in the fourth quarter.

According to the CCIS website, what is worrying is that the production costs are growing, having increased in the third quarter of 2022 for 81% subjects, whereas 51% of the surveyed companies increased the prices of finished products or services. The subjects point out that the lower resource prices are the key factor of efficient business operations and the usage of the capacities.

Privredna komora Srbije

CCIS

survey Business Activity of Economic Entities in the Republic of Serbia

growth of sales

growth of exports

costs of the purchase of energy

prices of raw materials

prices of secondary raw materials