OREANDA-NEWS  By the end of 2023, the volume of production of kaolin clays in Russia can grow by 1.7 times compared to the indicator of 2022 and reach a record 5.1 million tons by the end of December. This is reported by Kommersant with reference to the IndexBox study for "Simpreal".

According to analysts, the increase will be achieved against the background of the withdrawal of foreign producers of raw materials for ceramics from the Russian market. We are talking primarily about Ukrainian suppliers. Until 2022, this country was the largest exporter of kaolin to Russia, experts said.

The trend of decreasing dependence on foreign supplies began to be traced in the Russian Federation four years ago. Thus, in 2019, the share of imports of foreign raw materials on the Russian market was estimated at 22.7 percent, and in 2022 it decreased more than fourfold — to five percent. At the same time, the volume of domestic production has doubled over this period of time and reached the level of three million tons.