One of the largest Russian pipe producers, ChTPZ Group, which consists of Chelyabinsk Tube Rolling Plant (ChTPZ) and Pervouralsky Novotrubny Works (PNTZ), has announced that in the first quarter of 2010 it registered a 27 percent increase year on year in its pipe deliveries to 336,800 metric tons.
The year-on-year increase in ChTPZ Group's pipe shipments was due the stabilization of the economic situation in Russia and to Transneft's construction of the Siberia-Pacific Ocean-2 and Baltic Pipeline System-2 oil pipelines, for which ChTPZ Group delivered respectively 28,400 mt and 6,500 mt of large diameter pipes in the first quarter of this year.
In particular, in Q1 this year, the pipe deliveries of ChTPZ amounted to 191,000 mt - up 30 percent year on year, including 131,500 mt of large diameter pipes - up 49 percent year on year. In March 2010, ChTPZ saw a 39 percent increase year on year in its pipe shipments to 76,500 mt, including 53,100 mt of large diameter pipes, which is almost double the volume for Q1 2009.
On the other hand, PNTZ's pipe deliveries in Q1 2010 amounted to 145,800 mt - up 23 percent compared to the same period last year. In March this year, PNTZ shipped 52,200 mt of pipes, registering a slight decrease of two percent year on year.