In Russia, a surplus of polymeric raw materials is expected, Anna Dautova, General Director of the Trading House “Plastic” (Uzlovaya), said at the conference “Petrochemicals of Russia and the CIS 2017”.

According to her, at present there is an imbalance in the development of polymer production and processing in the Russian market.

In particular, A.Dautova cited data that during the period from 2006 to 2016 capacities for the production of various polymers grew by 2.5 million tons, including polypropylene (PP) by 965,000 tons, by polyethylene ( PE) – by more than 500 thousand tons, by polyethylene terephthalate (PET) – by 446 thousand tons, by polyvinyl chloride (PVC) – by 330 thousand tons. At the same time, processors fell behind almost 1.5 times: over 10 years they increased their capacity by only 1.6 million tons.

“While the production capacity tried to” catch up “with domestic consumption, processing of plastics began to slip” – she stated.

Over the period from 2012 to 2016, plastics production in the Russian Federation has grown from 3.5 million tons to almost 5 million tons, with consumption frozen at around 5 million tons.

“We can commemorate 2016 as the year when the capacities in Russia nominally could provide the entire Russian demand, but of course there are exports and there are various situations inside the brand assortment .For example, linear polyethylene is still dependent on imports,” A noted. Dautova, stressing that the shortage of basic types of polymers could approach zero.

According to A.Dautova, with the introduction of new capacities for polyolefins in Russia there will be a surplus, as the consumption of polymer materials is unlikely to accelerate: in Russia there are no reserves for the growth of processing of plastics.

“In the 2000s, we saw double-digit growth in every segment of plastics processing – whether PVC, whose processing grew by almost 30% annually, or polycarbonate (PC), whose consumption has doubled.” Since 2010, we see quite a different pace. If we rely on real incomes of the population, we live in the conditions of falling and stagnation of real incomes for the last few years, when this situation will change – so far no reliable agency can predict this, “she explained.

Secondly, according to her observations, import substitution in the main consumption segments has already occurred, and thirdly, the low base effect is exhausted, when the market only mastered new plastic products. The fourth factor, which hinders the development of the industry, Anna Dautova, has identified such a problem as the drop in marginality in the processing of plastics.

“At the moment, plastics plants are solving the problem of strengthening internal competition by moving to various niches, but with the introduction of new capacities for polymer raw materials in 2019-2022 this approach will also exhaust itself.” The surplus will become too obvious, “she noted.

According to her convictions, the Russian market expects a rebalancing. Producers of plastics, in her opinion, should join the development of the final consumer market. The competencies and financial capabilities of processors are not enough. A road map for the processing of plastics should be developed in maximum connection with the real enterprises of the industry in order to give an effect. We also need to take into account the risks of closing the US market for Chinese products and redirecting these products to Russia and preparing protection now, she added.

In addition, A.Dautova predicts possible projects of consolidation and consolidation in the plastics processing market and promotes the pros of the “niche” approach to sales strategy, not only in the production of plastics, but also in their processing. In this case, there is a chance to develop the polymer industry further, she believes.

As reported by MRC, in the first half of March 2017, Plastik (Uzlovaya), the Russian manufacturer of ABS plastic and suspension polystyrenes, signed a number of contracts for the supply of ABS plastic and polystyrene (PS) at the Interplastica-2017 exhibition, . During the exhibition, a contract was signed with the German manufacturer of polymer sheets for the supply of knot ABS. The first batch of products was sent in late January. Also, an agreement was reached to test a new ABS brand with one of the largest plants in Kaliningrad. A large batch of foamed polystyrene (PSV-S) after the negotiations that took place at the exhibition was sent to an enterprise in the Moscow region.

Earlier it was also noted that “Plastic” is exploring the potential of the packaging market with the use of PSV-C. According to the company, the potential of the PSV-S packaging market in Russia is 21.8 thousand tons, and in monetary terms about 5.1 billion rubles.

JSC “Plastic” (Uzlovaya) specializes in the production of ABS plastic and polystyrene. The technological complex of the enterprise includes styrene production capacity of 60 thousand tons per year, expandable polystyrene with a capacity of up to 11,3 thousand tons per year, ABS plastic – 23 thousand tons per year. The sales policy of the enterprise is realized by the Trading House “Plastic”.