One of the largest Russian pipe producers, Chelyabinsk Tube Rolling Plant (ChTPZ), may finish the construction of the new pipe electric-welding workshop No. 3 for the production of large diameter pipes in the middle of 2010. The initial term for the commissioning of the workshop, end of 2009, has been put back due to the economic crisis, CHTPZ chairman Mr. Alexander Fyodorov stated.
The total investments in the workshop construction project amount to €500 million, of which €300 million has already been paid, while the remaining €200 million are expected to be secured in credit lines from Russian banks.
ChTPZ has already received more than 60 percent of the equipment, manufactured by the German plantmaker SMS Meer. The new pipe electric-welding workshop, with an annual capacity of 600,000 mt, will produce longitudinal welded pipes of 508 to 1,420 mm in diameter with multi-layer double-side polymer coating, with wall thicknesses of up to 48 mm, and of 18 m in length, for trunk oil and gas pipelines.
The new pipe electric-welding workshop No. 3 will be able to use up to 60 percent of MMK's plate mill 5000, which will be commissioned on July 19, 2009, and will have two production lines, one for manufacturing pipes of 18 m in length with wall thicknesses up to 38 mm, and the other for pipes of 12 m in length with wall thicknesses up to 48 mm.