Russia’s technical textiles industry faces raw materials shortage Cashmere Blended Yarn

Russia’s technical textiles industry may face a shortage of raw materials this year, after government and business plans have so far failed to resolve the country’s dependence on imports. This is despite the fact that the development of domestic production of synthetics fabrics has been declared as one of the government’s top priorities and is part of the ongoing state programme entitled On the support of light industry in Russia.

Reducing dependence on imports
Several years ago, the Russian government announced its plans to reduce the dependence on imports in the synthetic fibres segment by building a new large-scale production facility in the Ivanovo region – a leading textiles production centre in the country. The new facility was to focus on the production of polyester fibres, as well as other raw materials, which are used in domestic technical textiles production – especially textile grade PET chips.

Known under the name of JSC Ivanovo Polyester Complex, the project was to have the capacity to produce up to 175,000 tons of polyester fibres and 30,000 tonnes of textile PET granulate per year. Construction was due to start 2017 and the plant was to be commissioned in 2020. Building costs were estimated at US$ 350 million, and the majority of funds were to be provided by one of Russia’s largest state-owned banks, most likely, VTB.

However, the project was suspended, and It is believed that this was related to the lack of state guarantees to the lender. There is still a possibility that the decision will be revised in the coming weeks and that work on the project will resume. The new plant, however, will be most likely built in the Bashkiria Republic instead of Ivanovo, with machinery and equipment being ordered from the German company Uhde Inventa-Fischer, which is part of ThyssenKrupp Industrial Solutions.

The majority of its future output would be intended for the needs of the domestic market (130,000-140,000 tonnes), while the remainder would be exported, primarily to Italy, Germany, Poland, and Czech Republic.