Russia-based steel pipe producer ChelPipe Group (ChTPZ) has announced its operating results for 2019.
In the full year, ChelPipe’s shipments from Pervouralsk New Pipe and Chelyabinsk Pipe Rolling plants totaled 2.07 million mt of pipes, rising eight percent year on year, accounting for 18 percent of total shipments by Russian pipe producers. The increase is attributed to an increase in export shipments which totaled 736,000, reaching a 25-year high and constituting 36 percent of total shipments following the company’s successful international expansion as a result of high demand for its products.
In the given period, the company’s OCGT shipments were recorded at 469,000 mt, increasing by three percent compared to 454,000 mt in the previous year, while its large-diameter pipe (LDP) shipments rose by 33 percent to 916,000 mt, compared to 688,000 mt in 2018, strengthening its position as the largest LDP producer in Russia. The company also shipped 498,000 mt of seamless industrial pipes in 2019, down by 11 percent year on year.
The gain in pipe shipments reflects the company’s participation in the construction of major international pipeline projects such as the Saryarka and Turkmenistan sections of the TAPI gas pipeline.
The company’s shipments to the domestic market decreased by six percent to 1.33 million mt,on year on year basis in 2019, due to a larger export share and a slight decline in seamless pipe demand.
ChelPipe Group will concentrate on diversifying its sales channels in the next five years in order to increase its competitiveness in comparison with its Russian and international rivals. The group aims to improve Russian and international customers’ demand for its pipe products. The company also expects that its volumes will remain unchanged in 2020 compared to the previous year.