According to Rosstat, Russia’s industrial production index in May 2014 equaled 102.8% when compared with the data for the same period a year ago; for the period spanning Jan-May 2014, the figure is 101.7%. Chemical production index in May 2014 amounted to 96.8% y/y, in Jan-May 2014, to 103.6%.
The country’s polymers output totaled 512 thousand tonnes in May, marking a 1.5% decline in y/y terms and a decline of 1.3% from April 2014, while its Jan-May 2014 polymers output turned out to be 1.8% higher than in the same period of 2013.
In the month of May, polyethylene (PE) output equaled 120 thousand tonnes, which was 23.5% less than in May last year and just 0.9% less than in April 2014. In this year’s Jan-May period, a total of 694 thousand tonnes of PE was produced.
Polypropylene (PP) output in the period under report equaled 95.8 thousand tonnes, marking a 25.6% increase over May 2013 and a 7.1% increase over the previous month. A total of 403.8 thousand tonnes of PP was produced since the start of the year (a growth of 23.8%).
Polystyrenes (PS) output in May equaled 48 thousand tonnes, marking an 18.6% y/y increase and a growth of 5.9% over April 2014. Since the beginning of the year, a total of 224 thousand tonnes of this of this polymer type was produced (a growth of 13.2%).
A total of 56.3 thousand tonnes of polyvinyl chlorides (PVC) and other halogenated olefins was produced in May, marking a 3.3% y/y decline. In Jan-May 2014, PVC production totaled 279.8 thousand tonnes, this was 3.7% less than in the same period of 2013.
Polyamide (PA) production in May equaled 11.9 thousand tonnes, marking an increase of 9.1% over May last year. A total of 54.6 thousand tonnes of polycarbonates (PC), polyesters and polyethers, alkyd and epoxy resins was produced in the period under report (+21.8% y/y), while the output of synthetic rubbers declined by 23.9% to 98.9 thousand tonnes.
What’s pertinent to recall here is a recent statement by Russia’s Energy Minister Alexander Novak, who said that the development of the country’s petrochemical industry will allow it to stop importing base polymers by 2017. “Developing a country’s petrochemical industry is important in order to propel the development and raise the economic efficiency of its fuel-and-energy complex. Thanks to such efforts, we will be able to shed our dependence on the imports of base polymers, polypropylene and polyethylene very soon, as soon as by 2017,” said Mr. Novak.
