Business news

MINSK, 11 August (BelTA) – Minsk Tractor Works (MTZ trademark) has plans to increase its exports to Pakistan to 5,000 units in 2016-2017, MTZ First Deputy Director General, Marketing Director Vladimir Makarenko said during the visit of Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif to Minsk Tractor Works on 11 August, BelTA has learned.

“This year the enterprise decided to centralize tractor supplies to Pakistan and set up the joint Belarus-Pakistan company MTW Pak Assembling Industries for that purpose. Before that, we made deliveries to different customers and shipped some 2,500-3,000 tractors per year. Now we hope to occupy a stable niche in this market and step up our exports to 5,000 units. These are our plans for 2016-2017,” Vladimir Makarenko explained. A tractor assembling plant was set up as part of MTW Pak Assembling Industries in April 2015. It has already assembled a pilot batch of 16 SKD tractor kits.

Vladimir Makarenko pointed out that Minsk Tractor Works sees Pakistan as a promising market. This country’s tractor fleet comprises some 700,000 vehicles. Its annual market demand is 70,000 tractors. “We want to provide 10% of tractors supplied annually to the market of Pakistan. We have far-reaching plans to increase our exports to 10,000 units. Everything will depend on the performance of our new assembling plant,” he stressed. MTZ intends to deliver up to 2,000 SKD tractor kits to its plant in Pakistan. Besides, Vladimir Makarenko noted that Pakistan showed interest in Belarus-made cotton harvesters. “At the moment we have only verbal agreements. However, I believe that we will come to an understanding and sign a contract in the near future,” he emphasized.

Minsk Tractor Works has been supplying tractors to Pakistan since 1955. More than 120,000 vehicles have been shipped so far. The export is dominated by the Belarus-510 model powered by a 57 h.p. engine. “Pakistani farmers are not very demanding. The simpler a model is the better. This is why our Belarus-510 is in demand there. We upgrade the models to meet the needs of Pakistani farmers. The pulling force of Belarus tractors exceeds that of their foreign counterparts almost twice. They pull 20 tonnes of sugar cane without any problems,” Vladimir Makarenko explained.

As was reported by BelTA, for the last eight years Belarus-Pakistan trade has been varying from $50 million to $120 million per annum. Belarus' main exports are tractors (Pakistan is one of the main non-CIS markets), potash fertilizers, synthetic yarn, tires, braid made of synthetic yarn. The main imports are rice, styrene polymers, fruits, food, leather goods, fabrics, textile products. In 2014 Belarus-Pakistan trade totaled $58.2 million. Belarus' merchandise export to Pakistan amounted to $42.6 million (100.3% as against 2013), with import at $15.6 million (98.5%).

Minsk Tractor Works was founded in 1946. It is part of the system of enterprises run by the Belarusian Industry Ministry. The company offers over 60 models and modifications of tractors and vehicles with over 200 options for all kinds of climatic and operational conditions. For the last few years MTZ has kept an 8-10% share of the global market of wheeled tractors. MTZ has assembly enterprises in Russia, Azerbaijan, Ukraine, Kazakhstan, China, Romania, Egypt, Serbia, Algeria, Venezuela, and other countries. The industrial group MTZ comprises 11 enterprises.