Serbia’s rubber and plastics industry generated a €1.09 billion trade surplus in 2025, as rapid expansion in tyre manufacturing drove exports sharply higher while the country’s plastics-processing base remained dependent on imported materials. Sector exports rose 16.5 per cent to €2.86 billion last year, while imports increased 3.4 per cent to €1.77 billion. Rubber and plastic products represented 8.6 per cent of Serbia’s total goods exports.
- Tyre plants drive industrial expansion
- Serbia’s rubber production base broadens
- Plastics remain structurally import-dependent
- Higher-value applications face different pressures
- EU packaging rules raise investment requirements
- Rubber producers face new traceability requirements
- Euro 7 expands the focus to tyre abrasion
- Trade growth expected to normalise after the capacity surge
The positive trade trend continued in the first half of 2026. Exports increased 8.5 per cent to €1.54 billion, while imports rose 2.9 per cent to €910 million, producing a six-month surplus of €630 million. The headline figures, however, conceal a widening difference between Serbia’s rubber and plastics businesses. Overall production increased 15.2 per cent in 2025, but rubber output climbed 34.6 per cent, while plastic-product manufacturing declined 8.3 per cent.
Tyre plants drive industrial expansion
The sharp increase in rubber production reflects the arrival of major foreign-owned tyre facilities rather than a broad-based improvement across Serbia’s plastics-conversion industry. Tyre manufacturing is concentrated in large, capital-intensive facilities serving international automotive and replacement markets. Plastics production, by comparison, is distributed among packaging manufacturers, pipe and profile producers, construction-material companies, automotive suppliers and smaller converters.
The broader manufacture of rubber and plastic products generated approximately €805 million of gross value added in 2024 and employed around 34,300 people. Gross exports substantially exceed domestic value added, reflecting the sector’s reliance on imported materials, machinery and components and its integration into multinational production networks. Toyo Tire opened its Inđija factory in late 2022 after investing €382 million. The plant was the Japanese group’s first greenfield tyre factory in Europe and was designed for annual output of approximately 5 million tyres and employment of more than 500 people.
Production is aimed at customers in Europe, the Middle East, Africa and North America. The factory uses an automated manufacturing system integrating production and enterprise-management technologies.
China’s Linglong Tire has added a larger production base in Zrenjanin. Construction started in 2019, truck-tyre trials began in 2023 and passenger-tyre production started in early 2024. Serial production was formally launched in September 2024 following an investment of more than $1 billion. The first phase employed 1,235 Serbian workers, with plans to increase the workforce beyond 1,800. Although official industrial statistics do not identify individual companies behind the production increase, the timing of Linglong’s ramp-up makes it the most likely major contributor to the 34.6 per cent rise in Serbian rubber production during 2025.
Serbia’s rubber production base broadens
Serbia produced 21.5 million vehicle tyres in 2024, together with more than 17,400 tonnes of other rubber products. The 2024 figures largely predated Linglong’s full commercial ramp-up, indicating that effective national tyre capacity has since expanded significantly. Alongside the new plants in Inđija and Zrenjanin, Serbia has established tyre and industrial-rubber operations including Tigar Tyres, as well as activities associated with ContiTech, Hutchinson and Trelleborg.
The expansion has created a geographically distributed rubber manufacturing base. The next stage of industrial development depends increasingly on the share of inputs and services that can be sourced domestically. Tyre production requires compounds, steel cord, textiles, moulds, tooling, testing, maintenance, logistics, software and traceability systems. Importing most of these inputs still allows Serbian factories to generate substantial exports and employment, but it limits the amount of value retained within the domestic industrial economy. As newly installed capacity moves into mature utilisation, growth will increasingly depend on production efficiency, product mix, quality and capacity utilisation rather than the statistical impact of newly opened factories.
Plastics remain structurally import-dependent
The plastics segment shows a markedly different trade position. According to product-level data compiled by the Serbian Chamber of Commerce, Serbia exported approximately €1.2 billion and 426,337 tonnes of plastic materials and products in 2024, while imports reached around €2 billion and 806,914 tonnes. That produced a plastics deficit of approximately €846 million. The customs-based figures differ from activity-based statistics for the combined rubber and plastics sector, but demonstrate the extent to which the overall sector surplus is supported by tyres and other rubber products.
Germany was the largest destination for Serbian plastic exports, followed by Bosnia and Herzegovina, Hungary, Romania, Italy, Czechia and Croatia. Imports were led by Germany at approximately €423 million in 2024, followed by Italy at €217 million, China at €175 million and Turkey at €135 million. Serbia produced 164,347 tonnes of plastics in primary forms in 2024. Downstream output included 172,051 tonnes of plastic plates, sheets, tubes and profiles, 121,217 tonnes of plastic packaging, 38,300 tonnes of plastic construction products and almost 40,800 tonnes of other plastic goods.
The categories cannot be combined into a direct material-balance calculation because some products pass through multiple processing stages. Nevertheless, the scale of downstream conversion relative to domestic primary-polymer production and the large trade deficit demonstrate continuing dependence on imported resins, specialised compounds and semi-finished materials.
Higher-value applications face different pressures
Plastic converters operate with limited room between volatile input costs and demanding customers. Polymer prices are influenced by international oil, gas and petrochemical markets, while retailers, food companies, construction businesses and automotive manufacturers have substantial purchasing power. When resin costs increase, manufacturers can face delays in passing higher costs through to customers. When prices decline, customers can seek immediate reductions while existing inventories lose value. Energy, labour, certification and financing costs add further pressure.
Companies operating in technically demanding segments face a different competitive environment. Peštan produces pipes and profiles, while Masterplast operates in construction products and Hutchinson and other international suppliers have automotive-related operations. Food-grade packaging, medical products, complex automotive components and infrastructure pipes require laboratory controls, tooling, traceability and customer approvals, creating higher barriers to entry. Commodity film, bags and household products remain more exposed to imported competition and have less ability to absorb rising environmental-compliance costs.
There are indications that the contraction in plastics manufacturing has begun to ease. Combined rubber and plastics output was 3.3 per cent higher year on year during the first five months of 2026. In May, plastic-product production increased 6.3 per cent, while rubber output grew 2.6 per cent. Domestic producer prices also remained relatively restrained. Prices for rubber and plastic products sold on the Serbian market were 2.7 per cent higher year on year in July 2026, while the January-July increase was only 1.6 per cent. The combination of stronger exports, higher physical output and modest price increases indicates that recent gains have been linked more closely to capacity, volumes and product mix than broad-based pricing increases.
EU packaging rules raise investment requirements
Regulation is becoming a major factor for Serbian plastics manufacturers supplying European customers. The EU Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation entered into general application on 12 August 2026. It applies to packaging placed on the EU market regardless of its material or country of origin and establishes a pathway towards economically recyclable packaging by 2030, together with increased recycled-plastic use and reduced reliance on virgin materials.
For Serbian producers, compliance can require changes to packaging structures, reductions in material consumption and the elimination of combinations that are difficult to recycle. Manufacturers will also require stronger information systems covering material composition, batch traceability, recyclability and safety requirements. Food-contact packaging faces additional quality requirements because recycled feedstock must meet contamination and consistency standards.
Serbia already has a substantial domestic packaging-recovery system. In 2024, approximately 414,154 tonnes of packaging were placed on the Serbian market. Operators reported recovery of 281,385 tonnes and recycling of 268,628 tonnes, corresponding to recovery and recycling rates of 68.4 per cent and 65.3 per cent. The aggregate figures do not necessarily provide manufacturers with a dependable supply of clean, segregated and specification-grade recycled polymer. This creates demand for collection, sorting, washing, decontamination, compounding and quality-assurance infrastructure. Producers capable of supplying consistent recycled polyethylene, polypropylene or PET compounds with documented origins could become increasingly important to exporters serving EU customers. Companies developing mono-material packaging, testing services and production technologies capable of incorporating greater recycled content also face a growing role in the supply chain.
Rubber producers face new traceability requirements
The rubber industry is also approaching significant regulatory changes. The EU Deforestation Regulation will apply from 30 December 2026 to large and medium-sized operators and from 30 June 2027 to most micro and small operators. Natural rubber and major products derived from it, including new tyres, fall within the rules. Companies placing covered products on the EU market must demonstrate that they are deforestation-free and legally produced.
A July 2026 update removed retreaded tyres and certain other vulcanised-rubber products from the scope, but new tyres remain subject to the principal traceability requirements. The potential exposure for Serbia is substantial. The Serbian Chamber of Commerce estimates that EUDR-covered rubber exports to the EU were worth approximately €940 million in 2025, representing around 4.4 per cent of Serbia’s total exports to the bloc.
New pneumatic tyres alone accounted for more than €750 million annually. Serbian tyre producers will therefore require supply-chain information extending through traders and compound suppliers to the geographic origin of natural rubber. Larger multinational manufacturers have greater procurement and compliance resources, while smaller domestic suppliers could face greater difficulty with digital records, supplier verification and due-diligence documentation.
Euro 7 expands the focus to tyre abrasion
The EU’s Euro 7 framework adds another regulatory consideration by bringing tyre abrasion and associated microplastic emissions into the vehicle-emissions framework. The competitive criteria for tyre manufacturers will consequently extend beyond price, grip and rolling resistance to include durability and measured abrasion performance. This increases the importance of compound development, testing and process control, as well as the local laboratory and engineering capabilities needed to support those activities.
Serbia’s industrial structure is therefore developing across three distinct competitive segments. Large tyre manufacturers have scale, international market access and multinational technology, but their investment and utilisation decisions can have a significant effect on national industry performance. Specialised rubber and plastics manufacturers operate at smaller volumes but can command higher value through technical qualifications and customer-specific expertise. Commodity plastics converters face greater pressure from imported materials, price-sensitive customers and rising environmental-compliance costs.
Trade growth expected to normalise after the capacity surge
The 2026-28 outlook is based on a transition away from the double-digit expansion recorded in 2025 towards mid-single-digit annual growth in combined rubber and plastics exports. Tyre exports are expected to continue expanding as recently installed factories move towards stable utilisation, although the statistical effect of the initial capacity ramp-up will diminish. Plastics manufacturing is expected to recover unevenly, with packaging, pipes, profiles and engineered components positioned differently from commodity products. The first-half 2026 trade surplus demonstrates that the sector’s external position remains strong, while production and pricing data point towards a period of normalisation rather than another exceptional expansion.
The €1.09 billion trade surplus recorded in 2025 therefore reflects two distinct industrial realities: a rapidly expanding, globally integrated Serbian tyre manufacturing base and a plastics-processing industry that remains dependent on imported materials while adapting to circular-economy requirements. The next stage of industrial development will involve the supply chains surrounding existing factories, including compounds, tooling, testing, recycling, automation and domestic supplier development, alongside the continued expansion and operation of the major tyre plants already established in Serbia.
