MOSCOW (MRC) - In light industry, interruptions in international supply chains amid the pandemic have affected almost all areas due to a shortage of raw materials - synthetic fibers and other materials, Kommersant reports, citing the words of the Secretary of State, Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade Victor Evtukhov.
According to him, polyester is one of the main drivers of the world market, its production has been growing by 7% per year for the past five years. China remains the world leader in the production of polyester fabrics, its share is 67%. About 30% of the volume of this material is used to make clothing.
“The world's population is growing, its concentration in developing countries is increasing, and it becomes impossible to dress everyone in cotton. In addition, chemical fibers and threads in some cases have additional properties compared to natural materials, so they are widely used in everyday clothing for an active lifestyle ", - said the deputy minister.
According to him, Russia produces about 400 million m2 of synthetic fabric per year and imports about 1.15 billion m2. Russia lacks domestic production capacity for the production of polyester yarn and artificial fabric. At the same time, technologically it is quite possible to organize it.
"The processing of polyester raw materials into finished products has been successfully implemented in Russia for a long time. Our enterprises produce plastic bottles and films from primary PET raw materials. This means that the production of threads and fibers would also be possible if we understand whether these products will be provided with a demand for I am convinced that over time, the needs of the domestic market for artificial yarn and fabrics will be convincing enough for the development of synthetic yarn production in Russia, "Yevtukhov said.
He noted that man-made fibers and threads are made from refined products. In this sense, Russia has a natural competitive advantage in the form of the availability of hydrocarbons.
Earlier it was reported that in September 2020, the production of polymer-composite materials (compounds) based on polyamide-6 began at the STFG enterprise in Rudolstadt (Germany), which is part of the KuibyshevAzot group of companies. Investments amounted to over EUR3 million. Production capacity - 12,000 per year.
MRC