According to European Plastics News, growing demand for insulation materials in Russia has prompted one national producer, Teplex to raise its output of extruded polystyrene (XPS) to 500,000m³ per year.
The company from the western Russian city of Nizhny Novgorod signed a contract for new European-supplied production equipment. Teplex expects to launch the new line by late this year or early in 2013.
Its new foam material capacity is aimed at meeting increasing demand in Russia’s central, north western and Volga federal regions. The new output, aimed at the country’s construction and oil and gas sectors will enable Teplex to secure an increased market share of up to 15%, it said.
Sales of its XPS products have been boosted since the introduction of legislation in Russia in 2009 to establish the general use of modern higher-quality insulation materials in construction.
Teplex is also looking east to expand its capacity and grow its position in the Russian market. The company is currently in talks to switch part of its production to Siberia to take advantage of a healthy regional market.
It plans to establish a new plant in Novosibirsk in Siberia with a projected XPS capacity of around 200,000 m³/year. The new plant is expected to start up at the end of next year or early in 2014.
The existing Teplex plant was launched in February 2005 at a time when demand for insulating material far exceeded the existing capacity.
Richard Higgs (European Plastics News)