The potential for the development of the Russian machine tool industry is incredibly high, representatives of administrative structures, users of industrial equipment, and machine tool builders themselves have been talking about this for a long time. The question is how to realize this potential in the current economic conditions, frankly speaking, very difficult.
The degree of localization of Russian machine-building enterprises in many segments is still not large enough to talk about fully domestic production of machine tools. This fully applies to metalworking equipment.
Analyzing the situation on the market of metalworking machines, manufacturers and suppliers note a general trend: a decrease in the supply of European and American equipment and an increase in domestic production. According to Rosstat: according to the results of January — September 2022, the volume of Russian production of machine tools amounted to 18.7 thousand pieces, which is 47% higher than in the same period of 2021. The increase is observed in all segments.
Based on the data of the Ministry of Industry and Trade, the share of Russian production in the machine tool industry has been increasing for several years: from 2017 to 2021, the growth was from 15 to 30%. And in the future, officials believe, it can grow up to 50% — this indicator is planned to be reached by 2050. Domestic manufacturers of metalworking equipment confirm the growth in production and sales of their products, although not all directly attribute this to the sanctions policy and the withdrawal of a number of foreign players from the Russian market.
The main growth spurt occurred in the fourth quarter of 2022, this may be due to the fact that by the end of the year, budget organizations that need to master the allocated funds are usually activated.
Therefore, it is difficult to say whether the economic situation or other factors influenced the growth of demand. But the fact remains: with the departure of European companies, we got the opportunity to more actively develop our production and promote products on the domestic market. Yes, parallel imports exist, but it is either risky or expensive, and European equipment was not cheap before.
Analyzing in more detail the structure of the production of metalworking machines in Russia, experts note that the growth was achieved primarily due to a wide range of products, which, according to Rosstat classification, is included in the "other" group. But for high-tech machines and processing centers, there is a reduction in output volumes.
The market has shrunk in general terms, but competition has dramatically decreased. Machine tool builders have to rebuild supply chains, localize production more in the country. But a full transition only to domestic components will take years.
That the Russian industry has a high dependence on imports in the field of metal-cutting machines and tools. With regard to the machines themselves, the situation has improved slightly compared to 2013: if then up to 90% of the needs were met by imports, now this share has decreased to 70%.
The Ministry of Industry and Trade also estimates the shortage of components at an average of 70%, while the department notes that in a number of areas dependence on imports reaches 90%. In particular, officials found out that in Russia there are practically no technologies for the production of high-quality refractories for blast furnace and steelmaking industries. They are imported into the Russian Federation from abroad, because domestic products do not meet international standards.
In addition, a strong lag was noted in the development of technologies in the steel sector, the production of equipment for the conversion of the sinter cycle, rolling mills, galvanizing lines and polymer coatings, heating furnaces. There is practically no production of rolls for rolling mills.
In Russia, the development of microelectronics is at the very beginning of the road. Nevertheless, there are already major local players in this market. There are few of them, which increases competition, and then the cost of products, especially taking into account the departure of foreign suppliers.
On the other hand, there are domestic manufacturers of component base that are not registered in the register of the Ministry of Industry and Trade, but have been producing high-quality products for many years. Machine tool builders successfully use it in their equipment, and in terms of functionality, drives and racks from an unregistered manufacturer in the register of the Ministry of Industry and Trade are no different from the products of enterprises that have received the coveted certificate. From the point of view of operation, there is no difference, but from the legal point of view, there is, and very significant.
Over the past couple of decades, the government has repeatedly adopted various strategies and programs for the development of the machine tool industry, formed action plans for import substitution in the machine tool industry. Most of these documents have not brought significant changes in the industry. The exception, according to the president of the association "Stankoinstument" Georgy Samodurov, is the subprogram "Development of domestic machine tool and tool industry" for 2011-2016, adopted as part of the federal target program "National Technological Base".
The main reason that other strategies have not been implemented, Mr. Samodurov considers the lack of necessary funding, and without it, all planned activities have remained on paper. In his opinion, the same fate awaits the latest strategy for the development of the machine tool industry, adopted in 2020 and designed for the period up to 2035.
