Specialty Fabrics Review April 2020 - 58

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WORLD VIEWS

Demand and supply
Russia is working to expand exports in Western tent cloth markets.
BY EUGENE GERDEN

vanovoiskozh, one of Russia's producers of technical fabrics in the Ivanovo region, is
working to become a leading player in the domestic market of tent cloth and to start foreign
expansion this year, thanks to the commissioning of new production of multilayer tent
cloth with polymer and PVC coatings, according to recent statements made by the company
and leading Russian analysts in the field of technical textiles.
The new factory has become a unique production facility for Russia, as well as Eastern
Europe; these regions haven't traditionally produced tent cloth of this type and level of quality.
In 2020, Russian producers also plan to expand into Western markets by increasing exports
of fabrics with enhanced fire-retardant properties and protection against thermal radiation,
as well as some medical textile products with bioactive properties.
The Ivanovoiskozh facility was founded in 1968 and specializes in the production of
technical textiles for the automotive, oil, construction and other industries. The factory also
produces finished products and tents, including supplying the Russian Ministry of Defense
and the Russian Emergencies Ministry.

The trade picture
With economic and climatological
upheavals likely to keep increasing
throughout 2020 and into the future, the
need for long-term trading partnerships
is likely to increase as well, to keep
tariff and trade barriers out of the profit
picture as much as possible. In the
article "Brexit and the larger European
trade picture" just published in AT
Source (www.advancedtextileproducts.
com), author Marie O'Mahony discusses
European trade and possible U.K.
isolation after "Brexit," as well as other
trade opportunities in Africa and China.
A Free Trade Agreement has been
reached by the EU and the countries
of Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and
Uruguay. The African Growth and
Opportunity Act was introduced in
2000 by the Clinton Administration
with the objective of expanding U.S.
trade and investment with sub-Saharan
Africa. With so many trade policies and
agreements in flux, impacts on the
specialty fabrics industry are likely to
be just as complex.

QUALITY AND PRICE
Stanislav Voskresensky, governor of the Ivanovo region and the official in charge of the project's
implementation, says the new enterprise will be operated using Italian machinery and equipment,
and will require qualified, trained workers for operations. According to the stated plans of the
investors and the Ivanovo regional authorities, most of the new factory's output will be exported
to other countries, with the remaining fabrics supplied to the domestic market in Russia.
Analysts believe the output of the new factory could be in high demand in foreign markets,
primarily Western, due to their good quality-to-price ratio. Dmitry Lukyanchenko, the
director of Ivanovoiskozh, says the new production involves the use of certain innovative
technologies not previously in use in Russia and Europe. According to Lukyanchenko,
"We use polyurethane along with PVC. The new line allows us to produce materials with a
maximum width of 3.2 meters, which no other company in Russia and Eastern Europe does."
The products produced reportedly have good technical characteristics, such as the ability to
withstand tensile loads up to 70-80 kilonewtons per meter. According to the company, the
fabrics could be used in a number of different industries, including the automotive, oil and
construction markets. Company representatives add that most of the tent cloth produced will
be suitable for use in the manufacture of awnings, banners, tents and inflatable structures, as
well as marine covers and canvas.
According to Alexey Drogun, technology director at Ivanovoiskozh, the new production
will allow Russia to almost fully meet its domestic needs in high-quality tent cloth as well
as begin regular exports abroad. Drogun comments: "The old line of the plant was designed
to produce materials with a maximum width of only 1.5 meters; however, thanks to the
commissioning of the new one, we are able to produce materials of 2-3 meters wide."
INVESTING IN TECHNOLOGY
The volume of investments in the initial stages of the project amounted to RUB 630 million
(US$12 million), most of which was allocated from the company's own resources and investors.
The remaining funds were provided by the Russian Industry Development Fund, a public
fund that specializes in the financing of high-tech projects in the field of technical textiles
and light industry in Russia.
In contrast to the majority of other projects implemented in the Russian specialty
fabrics industry in recent years, particular attention is being paid to the ecological side of

58 REVIEW APRIL 2020

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Specialty Fabrics Review April 2020

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