Russia-based TMK, one of the world's leading oil and gas steel pipe producers, has announced its production results for the third quarter ended on September 30, 2012.
For the first nine months of 2012, TMK shipped 3.146 million mt of pipes to customers, representing a 1.5 percent decrease compared to the first nine months of 2011. Reduction in total shipments was primarily due to lower sales volumes in the welded large diameter pipe (LDP) business. Shipments in the third quarter of 2012 were 1.042 million mt, unchanged from the second quarter of 2012.
In Q3, TMK's oil country tubular goods (OCTG) shipment volumes decreased by 10.8 percent quarter on quarter, while in the first nine months the volumes increased by 11 percent compared to the same period of the previous year. Volumes of large diameter pipe shipments decreased in the third quarter by 4.2 percent compared to the previous quarter, while in the first nine months the volumes decreased by 36 percent year on year.
In the first nine months of 2012, TMK shipped 467,000 premium connections designed by the company’s Russian and American plants, representing a 40.2 percent year-on-year increase. Shipments in the third quarter of 2012 remained unchanged from the second quarter of 2012.
The Russian division continues to see a strong order backlog through the end of 2012 as Russian oil and gas companies continue their drilling plans. The company therefore expects demand for OCTG and line pipe in Russia to remain strong in the second half of 2012 and in the first half of 2013. In general, TMK confirms its cautiously positive outlook for the remainder of the year and expects the fourth quarter results to by and large offset the usual slowdown in the third quarter.