There are already 45% of the factoring market for financing supplies

According to the results of the first quarter, a portfolio of financing the supply chains reached 1.12 trillion rubles, approaching 50% of the total factoring market. The portfolio of this segment first grew in the first quarter of the year compared to the previous quarter, in previous years the indicator decreased. Experts note that with the help of this product, large companies replace collateral loans and in the coming years its share can reach two -thirds of the market.

According to the Association of Factoring Companies (AFC), a portfolio of financing the supply chains (Supply Chain Finance, SCF) in the first quarter of 2025 almost doubled compared to the same period last year and reached 1.12 trillion rubles. As a result, the share of SCF products in the total factoring portfolio increased by 18 percentage points, to 45% – a record value over three years. At the same time, for the first time, the SCF portfolio in absolute numbers in the first quarter grew (by 3%) compared to the fourth quarter of the previous year. At the same time, in the first quarter of 2025, factors paid financing 64% more (0.66 trillion rubles) than a year earlier.

The confident growth of the segment has been observed for the past two years (see Kommersant on February 16, 2024). According to the executive director of the AFC Dmitry Shevchenko, the fundamental reason for the growth of the SCF share in the general portfolio is the replacement of these products that have gone aside pledged loans. This is indicated, in particular, a decrease in the turnover of portfolios of the largest market participants to 90-100 days. “Due to the flexibility of the SCF, the corporation is controlled not only by the financial cycle, but also by the percentage load – in fact, liquidity is attracted for a term between meetings of the Board of Directors of the Central Bank at the key rate and allows you to serve loans involved in investment purposes,” he notes. VTB Factoring CEO Igor Vnukov notes that large debtors satisfy most of the need for working capital due to factoring, which helps them maintain the rhythm of payments and supplies.

Market participants believe that the growth of the portfolio in the first quarter, compared with the fourth quarter, occurred against the background of the implementation of deferred demand, including from large oil and gas companies, which are the main consumers of the SCF product. According to the managing director of Alfa-Bank Factoring Pavel Shishov, in the fourth quarter the restrictions on capital in banks limited the growth of customer debt and the factoring market as a whole. “Already in the first quarter, taking into account the seasonal decrease in debt on classical facting and the emergence of additional capital consumption opportunities, the banks have an extended increased demand for SCF,” he says.

Moreover, experts believe that such a pace of growth in the indicator will be maintained for more than one year. According to Mr. Shevchenko, while the macroeconomic prerequisites for stopping SCF growth in the second quarter are not visible « either from the point of view of inflation or from the position of the Central Bank at a key rate – customers suffer, goods and services are sold, factoring works. » Sberfactoring general director Denis Maksimenko notes that in the second quarter, due to seasonality of business in various industries, business activity begins to grow, « and with it the volume of factoring on SCF products. » It expects an increase in the « SCF penetration into the regions and new industries. »

As a result, according to Mr. Maksimenko, by the end of 2025, the share of SCF in a factoring portfolio can reach 50–55%, and the share of payments – 35–40%. Pavel Shishov expects that for two years, the SCF share can reach two -thirds of the entire factoring portfolio.

Maxim Builov