Russia's Appetite for PPE Increasing
The Russian market for personal protective equipment is growing and will reach $1.7 billion in 2015, up from $898 million in 2008, according to a new analysis by Frost & Sullivan's Chemicals and Materials Research & Consulting practice. The study covers protective clothing, gloves, footwear, and head, vision, hearing, and respiratory protection.
"The recent boom in the Russian construction industry, especially in Moscow, saw rapid increase in accidents and injuries to workers," Frost & Sullivan Programme Manager Dr. Brian Balmer said. "The situation reached such an unacceptable level that the city's mayor, Yury Luzhkov, had to intervene to resolve the issue." Suppliers quickly saw their sales of fall protection equipment and other PPE to the construction industry increase, the company said.
The country's industrial accident rates will sustain PPE sales to the construction industry, and its mining industry offers significant PPE growth opportunities, the report indicates. Some of the best opportunities are in gloves and head and face protection because usage of both categories remains relatively low. Weighing against this are end user companies' lack of money to spend on PPE and complacency. "PPE suppliers still encounter customers with the view that 'If we could work with the equipment we had 40 years ago, we can still work like that now,' " Balmer said.
The "Russian PPE Markets" report is part of the Performance Materials Growth Partnership Service program, which also conducts research on European above-the-neck PPE markets, U.S. markets for protective gloves, and Chinese PPE markets.