15-18 June 2027
Crocus Expo, Moscow
Russian and CIS buyers have spent the past three years rebuilding their plastic packaging supply chains.
In one closely tracked segment that’s plastic food wrap, European suppliers' share of import value has fallen from an estimated 40% in 2021 to roughly 25–30% in 2025, according to trade research firm IndexBox, as sanctions and logistics costs made EU sourcing harder to sustain, and that gap has not gone unfilled.
Turkey, China, and Belarus have all increased volume across flexible film categories, but Russian procurement teams are still actively seeking suppliers who can combine consistent quality with commercial reliability, and international packaging expo like Rosupack are where that search increasingly plays out.
Malaysia, a country not traditionally associated with the Russian packaging trade, has a genuine case to make.
Malaysia is Asia's largest producer of stretch film, accounting for approximately 9% of global stretch film output, according to the U.S. International Trade Administration.
The country's plastics manufacturing sector generated $13.1 billion in turnover in 2023, with $3.4 billion from direct exports, and packaging remains its single-largest end-use segment, accounting for 45% of total plastics consumption.
For Russian and CIS buyers assessing new supply options, that scale matters, and it hasn't yet translated into a meaningful trade relationship.
Malaysian stretch film production is concentrated among a small group of established manufacturers with real export experience.
Thong Guan Industries, the country's largest stretch film producer, commissioned its ninth nano stretch film line in FY2023, targeting thinner, higher-strength film that reduces material use without sacrificing load stability.
BP Plastics added its ninth and tenth cast stretch film machines between late 2021 and 2022, its first move into nano stretch film production. SLP Resources has been expanding into mono film, a single-resin, fully recyclable structure, gaining traction across ASEAN markets.
This combination of scale, modern extrusion capacity, and export orientation puts Malaysian producers in a comparable position to established Asian and Turkish suppliers, but with capacity that remains underutilised in the Russian market specifically.
Major Malaysian manufacturers already export to the United States, European Union, and Japan, which means most have export documentation and quality processes in place, though qualification against Russia's own TR CU 005/2011 migration testing requirements would still need to be confirmed product-by-product for any new buyer relationship.
LLDPE remains the dominant material in Russia's stretch film market, used across pallet unitization, food packaging, and industrial logistics.
Domestic producers, backed by integrated players such as SIBUR, cover a large share of standard-grade demand, but buyers report ongoing gaps in premium and speciality film thinner-gauge, higher-performance products where reliable technical support and consistent supply matter as much as price.
This is precisely where Malaysian exporters have positioned themselves in other markets: nano and mono stretch films, cast and blown LLDPE film, and flexible packaging materials built for logistics-heavy applications, the same categories on show at RosUpack's plastic packaging exhibition sector.
In adjacent flexible film categories, Russian buyers already source speciality grades from Turkey, China, and Belarus; Malaysian producers offer a further option with comparable production technology and export documentation already in place.
Entering the Russian market involves practical groundwork rather than any single shortcut. Logistics routes typically run through Chinese or Central Asian rail corridors, or via sea freight into St. Petersburg or Novorossiysk, both of which carry longer lead times than Malaysian exporters may be used to when serving the EU or U.S.
Regulatory alignment with TR CU 005/2011 and EAEU technical regulations needs to be confirmed product-by-product, as migration testing protocols differ from those in Malaysia's usual export markets.
Payment and currency arrangements also require early attention, given the banking constraints that have reshaped trade finance with Russia since 2022.
None of these rules out entry Turkish and Chinese suppliers have built substantial positions in Russia's plastic film import market under the same conditions, but it does mean Malaysian suppliers need a distribution partner or agent with direct market knowledge, rather than attempting to sell in a cold.
This is where a direct route to buyers becomes valuable. RosUpack brings together more than 1,100 exhibitors and 30,000+ packaging decision-makers driving Eurasia's USD 15 billion packaging market, alongside co-located printing and labelling event Printech.
Its production machinery and materials sectors cover exactly the categories where Malaysian stretch film manufacturers compete, putting them in front of buyers who are actively sourcing rather than simply researching.
For Malaysian suppliers, RosUpack offers a faster way to build the local relationships and distribution contacts that market entry requires, replacing months of cold outreach with direct conversations on the exhibition floor.
For Russian and CIS buyers, it's an opportunity to evaluate a supplier base that most have not yet considered.
Malaysian manufacturers interested in exploring the Russian and CIS markets can submit an exhibit enquiry to secure a stand for the next edition.
Russian and CIS packaging buyers looking to widen their supplier base can register to visit and meet international stretch film and flexible packaging manufacturers face-to-face.
