TMK and SMS Group agree on strategic partnership

The Russian pipe producer Tube Metallurgical Company (TMK) has signed a strategic cooperation agreement with one of the world's leading producers of metallurgical and pipe-rolling equipment - Germany-based SMS Group. The agreement implies cooperation between the two companies in the areas of the development and implementation of the best SMS Group technologies and equipment for the production of steel and seamless pipes at TMK's facilities through to 2015. In addition, TMK and SMS Group have expressed their intentions in the partnership agreement to create a joint venture company on the basis of TMK's Seversky Pipe Plant that will manage service and repair of equipment used in the production of steel and seamless pipes.