MOSCOW (MRC) - Calculated consumption of polyethylene terephthalate (PET) in Russia increased 346,000 tonnes in January-June 2014, up 12% compared to the first half of 2013, according to MRC ScanPlast.
PET consumption has been growing, despite the stagnation in the beer industry. According to Rosstat, beer production in Russia in the first half of the year decreased by 6.4%. The production of mineral waters in Russia increased by 4.1% over the reported period.
Besides the integration of PET bottles in the segment of dairy and dairy products continued to grow, displacing the polyethylene (PE) packaging, according to MRC analyst Igor Gryshchenko.
Growing market demand was met by increasing imports. The share of imported PET consumption increased to 37% from the total consumption in the country, up 7% compared to the first half of 2013. As it was previously reported, Russia's PET imports increased to 128,000 tonnes in the first half of the year, up 40% relative to the first half of 2013.
The total production volume of PET at the Russian facilities has not changed. Russia's PET production was 218,000 tonnes in January-June 2014. The average capacity utilisation at PET plants in Russia was 71.4%, down 12.2% compared to the same time in the previous year. Russia's PET production increased by 90,000 tonnes in 2014, reaching 610,000 tonnes/year.
Polief has installed the second production line. Despite the stable operation at Polief and steady production capacities at Senege and SIBUR-PET, production volumes at Alco-Naphtha declined.
Exports of Russian PET to foreign markets exceeded 9,000 tonnes over the reported period, down 32% year on year.
Calculated consumption of PET does not include the carryovers.
According to our estimates, the real growth rates of market capacity will be 4-5% in 2014. PET consumption in Russia will decrease in the second half of the year because of the seasonal factors and carryovers in the warehouses of the market players. Therefore, the real growth rate of consumption in the end of the year will be slightly lower.