Syria’s state-owned industrial sector suffered losses of SYP 60 billion from the ongoing uprising and war in Syria.

Syria’s General Company for Bottling Water, a state-owned venture, reported profits in its 2012 operations.

ElSewedy Electric, one of the largest foreign investors in Syria’s manufacturing sector, is considering quitting the market in view of the deteriorating business environment, according to Egyptian media reports.

The Syrian government is planning to relocate state factories to “safe areas” in the country, according to the Minister of Industry.

The Minister of Industry has estimated the losses of the Syrian cotton industry at some SYP 20 billion in the last two years.

Hundreds of Syrian manufacturers are setting-up factories in Egypt, according to the Egyptian Minister of Industry.

Al-Ahliah Vegetable Oil Company, an agro-food company listed in the Damascus Securities Exchange, posted profits again last year.

The production of cement by Syria’s public sector decreased by around 25 percent in 2012 because of a suspension of activity at its plants located in Aleppo.

Al-Badia Cement posted an increase in sales last year, its first full year of operations.

A fire destroyed large parts of the Nestle factory in Syria at the end of February, one of several large plants to have been damaged around the Syrian capital in recent weeks.

The General Establishment of Chemical Industries is the latest state body to post a significant drop in its 2012 revenues.

Syria’s state-owned cement manufacturing plants witnessed an annual decline of 25 percent in their sales last year.

The Syrian government is accusing Turkey of being complicit in the looting and transfer of equipment to its territory of some 1,000 factories in Aleppo.

Syria’s production and sales of fertilizers fell by more than half last year, a decline that potentially indicates a sharp decline in agricultural production.

The owner of Syria’s largest confectionery producer has seen his assets frozen because of his alleged support of terrorism, according to local press reports.