St Petersburg, Russia — IntraTool, Russia’s largest importer of flexible flat PU hose, has commissioned a facility to make them in the country.
The firm said it had invested RUB 600 m ($15 m), with the majority coming from the firm and Russian bank loans making up the remainder.
PU lay-flat hoses are used in mobile collapsible pipelines in oil and gas production and transportation, bunkering, mining, energy, agriculture and water supply.
Currently the value of the Russian market for lay-flat PU hose is estimated at about RUB 2 bn/year, and is almost totally supplied by imports, around half through IntraTool.
The company believes that the weak rouble will mean Russian-made products will be more profitable than imports.
It says the capacity of the first stage of the enterprise, which is located in the St. Petersburg region, is estimated at 30,000 m/year, and it will pay back the initial investment in four or five years. IntraTool said that by then the market for PU hose could be five times larger than it is today.
This is supported by other market players.
Alexander Ilyinykh, deputy general director for sales of Baltrezinotekhnika, another Russian importer of lay-flat PU hoses, said the local market is largely tied to large oil projects and large infrastructure projects.
He added that there is a growing use of flat hoses in the cooling systems of nuclear power plants. Ilyinikh added that PU hoses have advantages in comparison to hoses made from fabric and polyethylene.
