The Russian steel producer Severstal has announced that in the nearest future it plans to resume steel pipe supplies for the construction of the Nord Stream natural gas offshore pipeline, as well as to begin pipe production for the Ukhta-Torzhok gas pipeline.
In the first three quarters of 2010, Severstal supplied more than 300,000 mt of large diameter (LD) steel pipes for the needs of the Russian fuel and energy industry.
In particular, the share of Severstal's LD pipe supply to Russia's state-owned oil pipeline monopoly Transneft accounted for 33 percent of all shipments during the period in question. For comparison, in the first nine months of 2009, Severstal shipped just over 11 percent of its total sales of LD pipes for the construction of oil pipelines.
In January-September this year, Severstal shipped LD pipes for such projects as Transneft's second phase East Siberia-Pacific Ocean (ESPO-2) and Purpe-Samotlor oil pipelines, and for Gazprom's Bovanenkovo-Ukhta gas trunkline system, its Sakhalin-Khabarovsk-Vladivostok gas transmission system and its Pochinki-Gryazovets gas pipeline.