Ljubljana, 08 April (STA) - Revoz, the Slovenian subsidiary of the French car maker Renault, continues to top the Delo list of Slovenia's largest exporters, followed by pharmaceutical companies Lek and Krka, and the household appliances maker Gorenje. The quartet contributed 17.4% to Slovenia's overall exports as they peaked at EUR 30.9bn last year, 9.2% up from 2017.
According to the Delo list of the largest exporters, published on Monday, Revoz exported more than EUR 1.75bn worth of vehicles last year.
Lek, the Ljubljana-based group that is part of Swiss Novartis, posted EUR 1.32bn in exports and the Novo Mesto-based pharma group Krka generated EUR 1.24bn in exports.
The group of four companies that exported more than a billion euro worth of goods last year is rounded off by Gorenje, the Velenje-based household appliances group which was taken over by China's Hisense last year. Gorenje generated EUR 1.07bn in exports.
According to Delo, Slovenian exporters are not pessimistic despite the global economic slowdown. Many report having difficulties keeping up with the orders because of staff shortages. Mineralka, a maker of incombustible insulation cladding, has its order book full until 2026.
However, there are some reservations among the car industry suppliers, whose major buyers are German car makers. Štore Steel, the 32nd on the list with EUR 93.93bn in exports, has been seeing a decline in demand and orders.
The company's director Jani Jurkovšek told the paper that Štore Steel had not scrapped any sales lines or made any redundancies but it did reduce the output. This was because the company was supplying a known client exclusively.
Slovenian exporters are also preparing for various scenarios in light of Brexit. Most will not be affected directly, because the UK is not their key market.
However, the Škofja Loka packaging company Sibo G will be exposed having generated 13% of its exports in Britain last year. Still, the company, which manufactures toothpaste caps, is not concerned about its cooperation with its biggest client, the multinational GSK.
After Revoz, Lek, Krka and Gorenje, the list of top ten exporters also includes the aluminium producer Impol, caravan and mobile home maker Adria Mobil, industrial group Kolektor, aluminium producer Talum, household gadgets manufacturer BSH Hišni Aparati and LTH Castings.