Drug companies in Turkey fear further cuts in prices

ANKARA - Anatolia News Agency

People are seen at a drugstore in Istanbul. Drug firms say the sector is under a constant downward pricing pressure, which risks sustainability of the industry.

Demands for further price cuts may hurt domestic production of drugs, which is strategic for the country, said Turkey’s Chemicals Industry Assembly.

The representatives of the drug industry complained at a meeting in Ankara yesterday that the sector is under constant pricing pressure. 

The meeting held by the assembly, which is an arm of the Turkish Union of Chambers and Commodity Exchanges (TOBB), brought together business people from a wide range of sub-sectors ranging from paints to plastics and cleaners to composite materials Demands for price cuts as a part of the Social Security Institution’s (SGK) ongoing thee-year budget study would risk the sustainability of the industry, drug companies said at the meeting. 

The foreign trade deficit in the sector was around $4 billion and domestic drug production was also crucial in strategic means, drug companies said. 

However, pesticide production and sales in 2011 were fruitful, the companies said. Still, 2012 does not look very promising due to weather conditions, they also claimed. 

Dye makers, on the other hand, said the production volume in the sector grew by around 10 to 15 percent in 2011 but this was not reflected in profits or revenues due to a hike in costs.