Sales of semi-trailers increased by 36% in seven months

The semi-trailer market is growing following the sales of trucks: in January-July, only domestic players increased sales by 45%, and the entire market by 35.7%. At the same time, unlike the truck market, players from China did not take the main volumes in the semi-trailer segment. Logistics companies, however, point to long waiting times for equipment.

Domestic manufacturers of semi-trailers in January-July increased sales by 45%, to 11.4 thousand units, Rosspetsmash calculated. The production increased by 34%, to 11.5 thousand units. According to the association’s estimates, the share of Russian factories in the domestic market is 78%, and they “are already ready today to fully meet the existing needs of consumers.” But Rosspetsmash notes that the industry is faced with high prices for metal, energy resources and petroleum products, as well as expensive loans. In addition, they record “cases of aggressive imports” from foreign companies that come to replace the departed Western brands.

SOTA Logistic Business Development Director Igor Chernyshev says that in January-July, sales of new semi-trailers in Russia increased by 35.7%, and, according to the National Industrial Information Agency, 21.8 thousand were sold.

The demand for tipper and flatbed semi-trailers increased most significantly over the year – by 76.3% and 67.4%, respectively, he notes, but sales of tilt semi-trailers were also in the black.

There are about 20 domestic manufacturers on the market, he says: “The most famous are Tonar, KamAZ, Politrans, Energomash, Uralavtotriptsep, TTehno.” We cooperate with the first two manufacturers. But, unfortunately, their queue for pre-orders now ranges from several months to six months.” “Other suppliers do not comply with the deadlines established by the contract at all, often without explanation,” says Igor Chernyshev. He attributes the high demand to the active renewal of the vehicle fleet: “Against the background of the rising dollar, transport companies ordered additional volumes of trucks. Accordingly, they need semi-trailers.” Mr. Chernyshev points out that there are a number of Chinese players on the market, as well as used semi-trailers from Europe, but their prices are higher than their domestic counterparts.

Russian semi-trailers-container carriers are today the only affordable option for the price, although it has risen 1.5 times during the current year, agrees Marina Ovsyannikova, head of the information and analytical department of the transport and forwarding company Modul. “We work with many Russian manufacturing plants (for example, from Kaliningrad, Veliky Novgorod), there are no complaints about the quality,” she continues. “However, there is an obvious shortage: if you place an order today, the finished transport unit will be shipped to us within four months to a year.” .

FM Logistic is considering purchasing an additional number of refrigerated 20-ton couplers, notes the company’s director for procurement of transport services, Eduard Mironov. “We mainly use long semi-trailers (over 16 m) with four axles. Only Russian manufacturers can make these,” he says. But he also draws attention to the long lead times: for tilt and isothermal semi-trailers – two to three months.

“With refurbishment installations, it is possible to extend the deadline until the middle or end of the first quarter of 2024,” he notes.

An increase in the Central Bank key rate makes fleet renewal and expansion more expensive, Mr. Mironov concludes: “Some companies are adjusting their orders downward, which frees up equipment.”

General Director of the transport company Delko Sanjar Ashuraliev believes that in the Russian Federation there is a shortage of curtain-sided semi-trailers, as well as refrigerators. “The difficulty of covering the deficit in this segment lies in the lack of ready-made solutions on the market,” he says.

The sale of semi-trailers is related to the sales of trucks – the head of KamAZ, Sergei Kogogin, predicted this week that by the end of the year, sales of heavy trucks (over 14 tons) could reach a record 140 thousand. Moreover, unlike the semi-trailer market, the share of domestic players here is much smaller – as Mr. Kogogin noted, 25%, including due to the inability to provide the market with sufficient volumes.

Olga Nikitina