Metallurgy / Chemicals / Rubber & Plastics

Watson & Band Import and Export Data Observation reported that since Europe and the United States imposed sanctions on Russia, Western companies seem to have gone and never looked back. In late August, French energy giant Total, under pressure from European and American public opinion and sanctions, announced its official withdrawal from Russia. It is reported that after Shell, BP and other companies withdrew one after another, Total was the only Western energy company that persisted.

Import and export data show that since some companies in Europe and the United States announced to withdraw or freeze their business in Russia in February, they have caused losses of more than 70 billion US dollars as of August, and the loss of the energy industry is as high as 54.9 billion US dollars. As one of the first companies to announce their withdrawal from the Russian market, BP took on more than $25.5 billion in losses.

Watson & Band Import and Export Data Observation reports that not all Western companies are as courageous as these companies. As early as August, Russian officials said that although it has been more than 5 months since the European and American sanctions have been "dropped", most foreign companies still choose to stay in Russia. They pointed out that the concern of these companies is that once they choose to leave the Russian market completely, they may never come back.

Watson & Band Data Observation reports that although 150 foreign companies have truly opted to withdraw from the Russian market, and this phenomenon has a tendency to continue to grow, this ratio is not very high compared to the 25,000 foreign companies in Russia. He pointed out that many of the companies that have indicated that they are participating in sanctions currently only choose to "suspend" operations.

Earlier, Russian media reported that Samsung Electronics, which had previously frozen its business in Russia, may return to the Russian market in October. According to import and export data, Samsung mobile phones once occupied the first place in Russia with a market share of 30%. But at present, Samsung's honor is constantly being squeezed, and it has fallen sharply to 8.5%.

Or because the short-term effect of previous sanctions on Russia was not obvious, Europe and the United States are currently discussing new sanctions. However, some EU member states claim that no matter who wins in the conflict, Europe has already lost first. According to the news, there are currently "anti-sanction" public demonstrations in many parts of Europe.

The U.S. seems to have expected this. Some U.S. media said that at present, some officials in the United States have doubts about the determination of the EU. They are worried that the EU will choose to give up its stance on sanctions against Russia due to the pressure of energy shortages and high prices in winter. U.S. media pointed out that the current U.S. official is "closely paying attention" to this trend.