The Russian pipe producer TMK Group (TMK) has issued its production data for the first quarter of 2008.
According to its release, the company reduced its total shipment of pipes by eight percent year on year to 707,000 metric tons in the first three months of 2008.
Meanwhile, regardless of an 8.5 percent reduction of demand for pipes in the Russian domestic market, TMK was able to increase its domestic market share to 25.7 percent in Q1 2008 from 24.8 percent in Q1 2007. The growth occurred due to the increase in domestic supplies of anticorrosion-coated seamless and welded line pipes, by seven and 43 percent respectively.
In addition, the increased demand in the CIS for seamless line pipes allowed TMK to increase its shipments of this type of pipe by 16 percent.
However, delay in implementation of large-scale pipeline projects, such as the Eastern Siberia-Pacific Ocean Pipeline, has resulted in a demand reduction for large diameter pipes in the Russian domestic market. As a result, TMK decreased its large diameter pipe shipments by 12 percent year on year to 222,000 metric tons in the first three months of 2008.