The Russian pipe producer TMK Group (TMK) has issued its production data for 2008.
According to its release, in 2008 the company increased its total shipments of pipes by five percent year on year to 3.227 million mt. In particular, TMK shipped 1.985 million mt of seamless pipes (including one million mt of OCTG), down two percent, and 1.242 million mt of welded pipes (including 258,000 mt of OCTG), up 18.5 percent - both compared to the data for 2007.
The growth in TMK's shipment volumes was mainly attributable to an increase in pipe production due to the consolidation of its North American production subsidiary TMK IPSCO in mid-2008. Without TMK IPSCO's contribution, the company shipped 2.738 mt of pipes in 2008, down 11 percent year on year. The decrease was caused by the shutdown of TMK's Taganrog Metallurgical Works' seamless operations for the first nine months of the year, by the postponement of a number of large pipeline projects due to the crisis, which led to a 38.6 percent drop in TMK's large diameter (LD) shipments, and by the weakening demand for industrial seamless tubulars in Q4.
As regards the future, TMK expects to see an increase in the demand for pipe production which, given its new equipment, will allow it to take part in all upcoming Russian and CIS tenders, and, given the extension of its production range, will allow it to improve its pricing and limit its exposure to competition from low-end imported products.
The ramp-up of the equipment launched in Q4 2008 is on schedule and is expected to be completed in Q2 2009.