Armenia, Brazil, Thailand. What new export directions is Polotsk-Steklovolokno developing?

OJSC "Polotsk-Steklovolokno" celebrated its 65th anniversary. On the occasion of the anniversary, festive events were held in the city with awards for the best workers and a concert by pop stars. And the general director of the enterprise, Ilya Ikan, gave a long interview to the Petrochemicals portal, where he spoke about achievements and development prospects. One of the topics was export supplies of products and diversification of sales markets.

This year, as Ilya Ikan noted, has been difficult for Polotsk-Steklovolokno. If previously almost 90% of production went to foreign markets in more than 50 countries, then in 2023 the number of countries was reduced to 24.

A number of significant markets were completely lost under sanctions pressure, so the question of finding new buyers became acute.

Now, according to the general director, the main consumers of Polotsk fiberglass are in the Russian Federation - 63.8%, European countries - 15.2%, countries of Southeast Asia - 2.5%.

The sales volume to the domestic market of Belarus is 14.1%.

Ilya Ikan named Saudi Arabia, Iran, Armenia, Kyrgyzstan, Georgia, and Brazil as new coordinates on the export map.

Over the nine months of this year, Polotsk-Steklovolokno shipped products to more than 87 new consumers. The growth rate of exports to Turkey compared to 2022 was 329.3%, to Thailand – 332.4%.

Activities to promote products to the countries of Transcaucasia and Central Asia have also intensified. The circle of partners in neighboring countries is expanding. In particular, interest is being shown in Uzbekistan, Azerbaijan, and Kazakhstan.

The main competition, as the general director explained, for the company in all markets is from Chinese manufacturers, who account for up to 70% of the world's fiberglass production.

There are also Russian competitors. However, in comparison with them, Polotsk-Steklovolokno wins due to the fact that it is capable of producing a wider range of products, including electrically insulating glass fabrics with thermal chemical treatment. Another advantage of Polotsk is the production of high-temperature silica fiber PS.

“No one in the world produces such fiber. Our engineers developed it more than 25 years ago. This is an exclusive technology that no one else has been able to replicate or master,” said Ilya Ikan.