Auto electronics manufacturer NPP Itelma will invest 2 billion rubles in new production of printed circuit boards

The auto electronics manufacturer NPP Itelma intends to launch the production of printed circuit boards in the Russian Federation with a capacity of 15 million square meters in 2026. dm per year. The project is needed both to increase the level of localization of the enterprise’s products and to expand its position in the market. The demand of auto electronics manufacturers for domestic circuit boards is growing: at the end of 2022, it was estimated at 4 million square meters. dm, and by 2026 could reach 10 million sq. m. dm. Computer manufacturers also need boards: there is a shortage of Russian products on the civilian market.

Manufacturer of electronic control units (ECUs) and auto electronics NPP Itelma intends to invest about 2 billion rubles. to launch in 2025-2026 the production of printed circuit boards of the 6th accuracy class, the planned capacity of the enterprise is 15 million square meters. dm of boards per year, the company told Kommersant. “The process of designing a production line and selecting equipment is currently underway. We plan to use about half of the products for our own needs, and sell the rest on the open market,” said Alexander Chistov, head of the company’s ECB localization department.

The Ministry of Industry and Trade, the Ministry of Digital Development and manufacturers of auto components are discussing the prospect of changing requirements for the localization of electronic control units (ECUs) for cars. The Ministry of Industry and Trade intends to tighten the requirements starting from 2026 – ECUs will be recognized as Russian when using domestic components and boards. A similar situation is observed in the computer equipment market – from 2024, electronics will be recognized as Russian when using domestic boards (see Kommersant on September 4 and October 9).

Executive Director of the Autoelectronics consortium Dmitry Kornachev estimates the volume of the ECU market at the end of 2022 at the level of 35–40 billion rubles, and the need of manufacturers for boards at 4 million square meters. dm. By 2026, this figure may increase to 10 square meters. dm. For the most part, companies purchase boards from China. But a number of ECU manufacturers, according to Mr. Kornachev, “are showing interest in purchasing Russian boards.” Other market participants, Avtoelektronika and SCTTM, did not respond to Kommersant.

According to the general director of Rezonit, Andrei Kucheryavy, currently in Russia a total of about 20 million square meters are produced per year. dm printed circuit boards. Kommersant’s sources in the electronics market say that most of the products go to the needs of state defense orders, while “there are almost no domestic boards in the civilian segment.”

Kommersant’s interlocutor at the market confirms that most of the printed circuit boards in auto electronics are Chinese. The main difficulties in switching to boards from the Russian Federation, according to him, are “price and quality, as well as the fact that the auto industry competes with all industries in a scarce market.” Kommersant’s source does not specify the difference in cost between Chinese and Russian boards, but admits that domestic ones are “many times more expensive.” Among the existing manufacturers in the Russian Federation, he names Rezonit first of all.

Judging by the letter from Deputy Head of the Ministry of Digital Development Andrei Zarenin to computer manufacturers dated September 13 (available to Kommersant), the ministry is aware of the problem and asks to estimate the annual need for printed circuit boards. The Ministry of Industry and Trade assured Kommersant that “there is no information about a shortage of printed circuit boards for Russian manufacturers.” The Ministry of Digital Development did not respond to the request.

Now a number of companies are launching board production facilities, notes Mr. Kucheryavyi. We are talking, in particular, about Yadro and Beshtau Electronics, as well as the new plant of Rezonit itself.

The head of the Printed Circuit Board Consortium, Vladimir Semenov, believes that companies’ plans to launch circuit board production may encounter a problem characteristic of almost the entire electronics industry: “In Russia there are no educational programs for employees involved in the production of printed circuit boards.” The expert estimates the industry’s need for specialists at 3 thousand people.

Another problem when launching such projects, says a Kommersant source in the electronics market, is that companies need not only to import production lines into the Russian Federation, but also to organize the technological process in production: “This is just as difficult as in the case of microelectronics production “

Nikita Korolev, Olga Nikitina