A short monthly summary of the following product groups for the Russian market is available from CIREC. Please contact us for a sample and costs by clicking on the link below

Aromatics

PTA-PET

Synthetic Rubber

Organic Chemicals

Methanol

Russian chemical trade

Russian imports have started to feel the effects of the rouble devaluation and international sanctions with a 15.6% drop in total inward shipments from non-CIS countries in August against July.  Overall for the period January to August this year imports were down 4.4% and that figure might be expected to rise as the year progresses, particularly as the rouble has been allowed to float.  

Imports of chemical products in August were affected by a 16.5% drop in the purchase of pharmaceutical products, polymers and rubber by 13.1% and the products of organic and inorganic chemistry by 9.2%.  The mainstream chemical industry has avoided direct sanctions.  Notwithstanding import substitution for chemical products is advocated amongst government and business circles in order to counter-balance the effects of a depreciating rouble and the economic effects resulting from Russian activity in Ukraine. 

Over the past decade product substitution in chemical and polymer products has been limited to selective areas of industry, but fundamentally has not altered the overall dependency on imports of higher added value products.  The government has stated it intends to draw up and promote an investment programme for chemical products across the industry, but in reality as private investment decides on which plants to build the government is very limited in what influence it can impose on industry. 

Several key chemical projects have made progress in recent weeks, including SIBUR at Tobolsk for a large new petrochemical complex, NHC at Nakhodka which intends to build a world scale methanol and ammonia complex, and Baltic Gas & Chemical which intends to build a world scale methanol plant at Ust Luga.  The Nakhodka and Ust Luga projects represent sound investments as both plants are located on the coast at opposite ends of Russia, and will allow natural gas to be monetised through chemical exports. 

SIBUR’s project at Tobolsk is far more important in relation to the Russian economy, developing a complex that is not only a major asset to the Tobolsk region but also providing the polymers necessary that can help construction and automotive industries inside Russia.  These large-scale chemical projects could represent the tip of the iceberg if Russia’s government supported free, fair and open markets. 

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