RF Ministry of Industry and Trade finds it unreasonable to lift duty on import of bearings for innovative railway cars from China is unreasonable
Russian manufacturers can cover the demand for 190 thousand units by the year end
According to preliminary estimations, the demand of wagon-building and wagon-repairing companies for cassette-type bearing units in the second half of 2022 is estimated at 190,000 and it can be covered by Russian manufacturers and those from friendly countries, the Ministry of Industry and Trade told IAA PortNews when commenting on the deficit of the spare parts in the market and on possible lifting of import duties for Chinese components.
“The segment of bearing production is crucial and strategically important for ensuring national security of the Russian Federation and for civil industry covering the operational needs of machine building. It is essential for the technical level and competitiveness of the machine building industry’s end products,” emphasized the industry.
Supply of bearings at lowered prices from the South-East Asia have led to fall of the domestic bearings share in the internal market below 30%, says the Ministry of Industry and Trade.
Antidumping duty aimed at protection of Russian manufacturer has been in force from 2011. It lets balance the cost of Chinese and Russian bearings in the market. The Ministry also underlines that there are no bans on import of bearings to Russia.
In the Russian Federation, cassette-type bearing units are produced by TEK-KOM Production LLC in the Tver Region and EPK-Brenco LLC in the Saratov Region.
In the first half of 2022, the companies produced about 105 thousand units. In August 2022, they resumed producing bearing units with alternative suppliers of components.
“Amid the pressure of sanctions, increased import of bearings from the People's Republic of China driven by absence of antidumping duty can lead to a complete halt of domestic manufacturers’ operation due to economic inexpediency and, consequently, to a complete disruption of the bearing production industry in member states of the Eurasian Economic Union. Therefore, lifting of the antidumping measure in the segment of antifriction bearings of the Chinese origin is unreasonable,” summarized the Ministry of Industry and Trade.
Cassette-type bearing units are used in bogies of innovative railway cars (with enhanced axle loading). Those railway cars transport export cargo including coal and mineral fertilizers. In 2021, Russian Railways’ loading of export cargo bound for seaports rose to an absolute record of 351.1 million tonnes, up 5.8%, year-on-year.
