Ukrainian steel pipe and railway wheel producer Interpipe has announced weaker production results for 2019. According to the official statement, the company’s pipe sales decreased by 11 percent year on year to 595,000 mt amid unfavorable demand in the global market in the second half of 2019.
In particular, in 2019 the company’s sales to the Ukrainian market dropped by 18 percent year on year to 147,000 mt. The significant decrease in Interpipe’s sales to the state company “Ukrgasvydobuvannya” (down 67 percent year on year) was partially offset by orders from private sector companies.
As regards exports, Interpipe supplied 146,000 mt of seamless and welded pipes to Europe, down 16 percent year on year, mostly due to the imposed import quotas. In 2019, Interpipe increased OCTG and line pipe sales to North and South America by 13 percent year on year to 140,000 mt. Also, in the second half of the year the company sharply decreased its sales to the US market due to the 7.5 percent antidumping duty resumption in addition to the 25 percent duty on all steel products. In 2019, Interpipe’s sales to the Middle East grew by 27 percent year on year to 140,000 mt, mostly because of higher OCTG sales. The company’s sales to the CIS dropped by 46 percent year on year to 61,000 mt amid Russia’s embargo on all pipe deliveries from Ukraine and due to sluggish demand in CIS countries in general, SteelOrbis has learned.
In 2019, Interpipe’s sales of railway products, namely wheels, tires, axles and wheel sets, increased by eight percent year on year to 203,000 mt. Meanwhile, in the given year Interpipe’s round steel billet output totaled 854,500 mt, down 4.2 percent year on year. Almost all material was supplied to the Interpipe’s mills, while 23,700 mt was shipped to third-party consumers.