UMATEX Company (an enterprise of the Rosatom State Corporation) has commissioned a plant for the production of a PAN-precursor (raw materials for the production of carbon fiber). The solemn ceremony of launching the plant took place on November 22, 2021 in the SEZ "Alabuga" (Republic of Tatarstan). The event was attended by President of the Republic of Tatarstan Rustam Minnikhanov, General Director of Rosatom State Corporation Alexey Likhachev, General Director of UMATEX Alexander Tyunin, General Director of JSC SEZ PPT Alabuga Timur Shagivaleev, State Duma Deputy Alexander Mazhuga, First Deputy General Director of PJSC Irkut Corporation, General Director of JSC aErocOmposite Anatoly Gaidansky, General Director of JSC ONPP Technology named after A.G. Romashin Andrey Silkin and others.
UMATEX has implemented an investment project to create a plant in just three years. The total budget of the project amounted to 8.5 billion rubles. The construction of the plant was financed by Rosatom State Corporation (5.2 billion rubles), SEZ "Alabuga" JSC (3 billion rubles) and the Ministry of Industry and Trade of the Russian Federation (0.3 billion rubles).
The plant's capacity is 5 thousand tons of polyacrylonitrile fiber per year. The company has created 167 new jobs. The plant uses Italian-made technological equipment. Rosatom's partner - SEZ PPT "Alabuga— - provided the automated engineering infrastructure of the enterprise at a high level.
"The new production makes it possible to form a complete technological chain for carbon-composite materials. The first industrial samples of carbon fiber from the domestic PAN-precursor have already been obtained. Their quality is at the level of the world's best manufacturers," said Rosatom CEO Alexey Likhachev.
"The PAN-precursor determines 70% of the quality and 40% of the cost characteristics of carbon fiber. The introduction of new capacities will ensure the needs of the Russian market in carbon fiber produced from domestic raw materials, and consolidate Russia's import independence in the field of composite materials, as well as successfully compete in international markets with products that are not inferior in quality and price to foreign analogues. Even 5 years ago, 80% of carbon fiber was imported, today more than 90% is Russian, produced at this site. On the basis of domestic polyacrylonitrile, the development of a new generation of carbon fiber with advanced characteristics will also continue," said UMATEX CEO Alexander Tyunin.
Carbon fiber-based composites are characterized by light weight, increased strength and high anticorrosive properties, so these materials are in demand in a variety of industries: aircraft construction, construction, shipbuilding, energy, sports equipment creation. UMATEX is the only carbon fiber manufacturer in Russia and the CIS countries with large-scale production facilities along the entire chain of creating composites, the company's press service reports.