Russian pipe producer The Pipe Metallurgical Company (TMK) has announced that it plans to set up a joint venture (JV) with Chelyabinsk Electrometallurgical Plant (CHEMK) under the name of LLC Russian Stainless Company (RNK) to implement a project for the production of flat stainless steel in the city of Volzhsky, in the Volgograd region.
RNK will be owned in equal shares by Volzhsky Pipe Plant (VTZ), which is part of TMK, and CHEMK. VTZ will become the operator of the project for building a complex which will be located at the VTZ site. Currently, the project is being developed and the search for optimal solutions for its financing is underway.
The new joint venture is planned to have an annual capacity of 500.000 mt of high-quality finished flat hot-rolled and cold-rolled steel from alloyed stainless steels and corrosion-resistant, heat-resistant alloys.
Currently, Russia consumes about 300,000 mt of stainless steel annually, while more than 90 percent of stainless steel products are imported. Over the past 10 years, Russia’s demand for these products has grown by an average of five percent per year. The launch of modern stainless steel production will meet the growing level of domestic consumption.