Mikhail Katsevman: 2018 will be a difficult year for Russia’s auto industry.

One of Russia’s most prestigious auto events – the Russian Automotive Forum – took place from the 15-16 of March in Moscow, Russia. The event had been attended by executive officers from top players of the market. Mikhail Katsevman - Research and Development Director, R&P POLYPLASTIC – presented his prognosis on the industry's near future.

 

According to Mr. Katevman, optimistic prognosis asserting a 2 – 5% growth of the auto industry in 2017 are probably accurate. Due to the crisis, the Russian consumer has become more meticulous in his choices which lead to the recent shrinkage of lineup. Although with respect to constructional design of vehicles manufactured in Russia – quality has been improving to a higher standard. Thus the amount of plastics in one unit of machinery has reached 63 kg – a number close to the European standard.

 

The growth rate of polymer materials consumption by automotive manufacturers remains at a good level. With the plumage in production and sales in 2016 by 10-12%, the demand for polymer materials had fallen by only 5%.

 

Nevertheless, occasionally the localization process proceeds not fast enough. And as of today, localization is a most important issue. When the WTO regulations for auto parts kicks in, June 2018, a substantial hike of prices on all levels is expected to cause a similar rise on the accessory market and lost of competitiveness. These have led POLYPLASTIC to move its attention to domestic manufacturers.

 

POLYPLASTIC continues to lead the Russian polymer industry and had proved its status the previous year crossing a threshold of 1 mln tons of production.

 

“There’s quite a simple math: we have produced an amount of plastics for 25 years that would have been enough to fill every vehicle in Russia with 8 kg of our high-quality material.” – thus ended his report Mikhail Katsevman.

 

Mr. Katsevman also commented on the company’s Export rush program under which 800 tons of materials had been supplied to countries abroad: “Keeping in mind upcoming fees companies that operate solemnly within the Russian Federation by 2018 will find it difficult to keep going, only companies with international operations will be able to function successfully”.