BERLIN, July 12 (Xinhua) -- Business of the German chemical-pharmaceutical industry developed positively in the first half of 2018, but the outlook is less optimistic due to the danger of a global trade war, a hard Brexit and the stormy oil price development, the industry association reported on Thursday.

According to the German chemical industry association VCI, the sales in the first six months came to well over 100 billion euros, a year-on-year increase of 5.5 percent.

The production in Germany's third largest industry also grew by altogether 5 percent, VCI said in a statement.

However, the business expectations of the industry are somewhat less favorable. Companies are no longer as optimistic about the future as they were at the start of this year.

"Growth has slowed down while the risks to the economy have increased. Headwinds are getting stronger," VCI president Kurt Bock said.

The association forecasts a production increase of 3.5 percent for 2018 as a whole, and that the industry's total sales are likely to improve by 4.5 percent to over 204 billion euros by the end of the year.