The recession has increased awareness in Russia of the need to press ahead with modernising the economy. The best form of protection against future recessions is greater diversification and focus on innovation in the national economy. Russia intends to become more competitive internationally in the areas of nanotechnology, information technology, energy efficiency, atomic energy and pharmaceutics. The growing SME sector, booming regions such as Sochi (the venue of the Winter Olympics in 2014) and target programmes worth billions in, for example, the transport sector and water management and the development of the North Urals offer great potential in plastics and rubber processing for western suppliers.
Rising energy prices in the global market are ensuring that Russia’s budget revenue is on the rise again. For important economic sectors such as the packaging, construction and chemical industries, good opportunities for growth are forecast, and the need for modernisation in Russia and neighbouring states remains a priority. Russia is still a very promising future market for the plastics and rubber industry.
Ranked third for exports, Russia and, indeed, Eastern Europe is still one of the most important markets for the industry. Russia has helped suppliers of plastic and packing machines by no longer charging import sales tax for a range of machinery and equipment since 1 July 2009. This has given foreign manufacturers a considerable price advantage. A precondition is that equivalent products are not also produced in Russia.
In particular companies which are using the difficult period to create medium and long-term business opportunities and to provide customer care can benefit from this. INTERPLASTICA in Moscow has proved that it is a stable platform for the plastics and rubber industry in Russia and that it is the leading trade fair in the region. It’s enough for a reason to exhibit at next INTERPLASTICA from 25 to 28 January 2011.
There is highly dynamic growth in the demand for high-quality plastics such as polypropylene or polyethylene in the Russian market. The most important group of customers is the packaging industry, but thermoplastics are also required in the automotive industry, in the manufacture of plastic pipes, in household equipment and for construction material. While imports of basic polymers are noticeably being replaced by Russian products, more complex materials and additives have to be imported. To date there has been a lack of appropriate production facilities for this in Russia. Demand should continue to rise in the medium and long term as the development potential for polypropylene is immense. In the USA, Western Europe and Japan, per-capita consumption is 20 to 25 kilograms per year.
In Russia it is just 3.8 kilograms, one sixth the consumption in Western Europe.
The extrusion of polyethylene films is responsible for around 20 per cent of polymer consumption in Europe and, in Russia, the industry is making up considerable ground.
