Local exporters look east for growth

Newsroom 25/06/2013 | 14:06

As demand from Western European economies shows no signs of rebounding, Romanian exporters need to look outside the EU for growth, said Christophe De Korver, managing director of the Romanian subsidiary of logistics supplier Gefco, speaking last week during a logistics conference.

The Middle East and especially Russia are among the main alternatives to EU markets, according to the MD of Gefco, which in 2012 operated 1,000 truck transports from Romania to Russia and 250 back. More than two thirds of exported volumes were manufactured products such as white goods, electronics, automotive parts and retail goods. Exports to Russia will remain on an upward trend as demand is growing faster than the Russian economy’s capacity to produce goods, said De Korver. Much now depends on local companies’ capacity to produce goods at competitive prices and good research and preparation for the Russian market, he added.

Romanian exports to Russia were up 41 percent in the first four months of 2013 driven by rising oil equipment exports to a total of USD 592 million, while imports from Russia stood at USD 812 million. Last year, Romanian exports to Russia amounted to USD 1.35 billion, down 4.6 percent y-o-y and Russian exports to Romania stood at USD 3.7 billion, up 4.9 percent y-o-y, according to data from the Russian embassy to Bucharest.

Gefco Romania registered a turnover of EUR 42.3 million in 2012, down from EUR 43.3 million the previous year, mainly because of low demand from Western Europe, the company announced earlier this year. Net profit was EUR 1.96 million or about 4.64 percent of the turnover.

Russian Railways, RZD, bought 75 percent of Gefco from PSA Peugeot Citroen at the end of last year.

Simona Bazavan

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