subject: The Russian Plastic Pipes Market - July 2012 (russian Market Report) [print this page] Plastic pipes are cylindrical products made from a polymeric material. The scope of application of plastic pipes is extremely broad. Plastic pipes are used for construction and repair of pipelines, transporting water for household use, as well as transporting other liquids and gases from which they are chemically resistant. Plastic pipes are also used to supply/transport flammable gases, heating, sanitation and in sewerage networks. Recently, polymer pipes were increasingly used for hydraulic fluids. Plastic tubes can additionally be used as a protective channel for electrical cables, communication cables and fiber-optic cables.
The manufacturing process of plastic pipe technology is simple, and relatively energy and environmentally friendly. The minimum area required for installation and operation of a complete line for of plastic piping is about 100 square meters.
The extrusion line for piping represents a complete technological cycle of continuous sizing, cooling, extraction, cutting and stacking of finished products and consists of the extruder to the extrusion head and the feeding system of polymeric materials, calibration and cooling bath, haul-off, cutter and stacker or automatic rewinder for small-diameter pipes.
The market of plastic pipes in Russia is quite promising. The length of the pipelines in Russia amounts to about 1 million miles of external piping and 14 million miles of in ground piping. This creates great opportunities in terms of replacement of obsolete steel and asbestos -laden cement pipes with new pipes made of thermoplastics.
The market volume of plastic pipes in 2011 amounted to 464.4 thousand tons, which was 54% higher than in 2010, and the growth has continued into 2012. Government statistics show that the production of plastic pipes and pipe components for January - May 2012 increased by 21% in real terms, compared to the same period in 2011. According to market participants, this trend will continue until the end of 2012, an eventual estimated growth of 16%.
Despite recent increases in the imports of plastic pipes in Russia , a large share of the market is produced in Russia. In 2011, 83.6% (in value terms) of all plastic pipes consumed in the Russian market were domestically made.
Imported pipes in the Russian market can be divided into three main groups. The first group includes products supplied from the countries of Western Europe. This production is the most expensive and in demand mainly from private individuals. The second group of products include plastics pipes produced in Turkey and Poland. The cost of these products is slightly higher than the price of the pipes of local manufactures, but consumers believe that they offer better quality characteristics. The third group are products that comes from the CIS countries. In recent years the market has released another group of imported plastic pipes manufactured in Asian countries.
Further development will depend on several factors: the development of the construction industry, availability of raw materials and state government regulation.
Experts forecast that over the next few years the market will grow by 14% -25%. In their view, the market for plastic pipes by 2017 will be 1.3 million tons.
