Demand for domestic semi-trailers is growing amid a decrease in the shortage of tractors

Domestic manufacturers of semi-trailers in January-April increased sales by almost a quarter, to 6,000 units, due to deferred demand. The dynamics is similar for almost all types of semi-trailers and is associated with a gradual reduction in the shortage of tractors on the market. The demand for refrigerators is growing most actively, but factories are not keeping up with it due to a shortage of imported refrigeration units.

Sales of domestic semi-trailers in January-April increased by 24%, to almost 6 thousand units, follows from the data of Rosspetsmash (collects data from 70% of manufacturers). In April, 1.6 thousand units of equipment were sold, which is 56.3% higher than a year earlier. The output increased by 18.1%, to 6.3 thousand units in the first quarter, in April – by 56.3%, to 1.6 thousand units.

Sales of Russian vehicles show positive dynamics in all market segments, except for non-tilted semi-trailers (a drop of 2.5%).

Sales of tilt semi-trailers in January-April increased by 17.9%, dump trucks – by 24.3%, container carriers – by 40.3%, tanks – by 50.7%, trawls – by 101.4%, grain carriers – by 105 .3%. Demand is growing most actively in the segment of refrigerators – by 141%.

The pent-up demand formed in 2022 due to a shortage of tractors is being realized on the market, says Denis Krivtsov, general director of the Tonar manufacturer. Demand is most active in the main segments – curtain, container ships, refrigerators – while for dump trucks it is consistently high. A drop in interest is observed only in timber industry equipment (trunk trucks), says Mr. Krivtsov, but the situation has been stable since the middle of last year and is associated with a drop in timber exports. The shortage of refrigerators is caused by the search for alternatives for refrigeration units, which were imported.

Sanjar Ashuraliev, General Director of the transport company Delko, notes that the Russian Federation was Europe’s largest market for the sale of refrigerated semi-trailers and occupied 15% in the EMEA region (Europe, Middle East, Africa). “Now we are in a deficit situation, because world leaders have left Russia, and among the available alternatives there is no ready-made solution for the Russian market,” he says. China and Turkey have their own developments in refrigeration units, but they still cannot fully meet the needs of the Russian market, while in Russia there is no production of refrigerators. “You can buy European equipment through parallel imports, but the price for it reaches 10 million rubles,” he concludes, adding that the solution lies in the development of domestic production.

Rosspetsmash notes that the total market for new isothermal semi-trailers in 2022 amounted to almost 2.7 thousand units, and the need for new equipment is estimated at 4-5 thousand units per year.

“Russian manufacturers, if there is effective demand, plan to produce at least 3.1 thousand of such equipment in 2023,” they add.

According to Carrier’s distributor SIV Transkholod, the deepest decline among isothermal equipment is observed in the segment of refrigerated semi-trailers – by 55%. This is due to the lack of both semi-trailers and refrigeration units. The situation with truck tractors has now improved amid a rapid increase in supplies from China.

Now the prices for refrigerated transportation are steadily growing, which is associated not only with the onset of the summer season, but also with a lack of refrigerators, explain in SIV Transkholode.

Now Tonar has contracted the production of refrigerators. “We are waiting for the equipment to arrive,” says Denis Krivtsov. “So far, refrigeration units are supplied from China, plus parallel imports. But our partner is localizing them, and we will be testing them next year. We take into account the comments of customers and have now presented a model that is no worse than German technology in terms of weight and dimensions,” he says. The semi-trailer market is likely to remain stable by the end of the year, Mr. Krivtsov believes, but the share of Russian players in it will grow. “For example, last year we produced 5.3 thousand semi-trailers, and now we have already approached 4 thousand units and plan to reach 9 thousand units a year,” he notes.

Eduard Mironov, Director of Procurement of Transportation Services of FM Logistic in Russia, says that “the price of a Turkish-made long isothermal semi-trailer 16.7-17 m with American refueling units is 20% higher than a Russian-made analogue with Chinese installations.” The cost of such a semi-trailer is 60% higher than in 2021. The main problem, Mr. Mironov notes, is now with components: the usual suppliers are gone, and the transition to Chinese, Iranian and others makes the total cost of ownership of semi-trailers less predictable.

Olga Nikitina