Evraz to ship first batch of 8,000 locomotive wheels to U.S. by year's end
YEKATERINBURG. Sept 25 (Interfax) - Evraz Nizhny Tagil Iron & Steel Plant (NTMK) , a division of the Evraz steel and mining group, will make its first commercial shipment of locomotive wheels to the United States by the end of 2015, Evraz's Ural regional corporate relations center said.
"Evraz has completed the process of certifying A-43 locomotive wheels, one of the most popular locomotive wheel designs on the markets of the U.S., Canada and Mexico. A pilot shipment has successfully passed testing, which made it possible for the Association of American Railroads to give Evraz NTMK permission to supply 8,000 wheels. The start of commercial production is planned for October," the company said.
Concurrently, the company plans to expand the geography of exports to countries in the European Union. "On the European railroad wheels market, Evraz is now represented in all segments: wheel billets, rough and finished wheels for freight cars. Evraz NTMK delivered its first shipment of wheel billets (NLZ 430) to Germany in the summer of 2015. A trial batch of billets will be shipped to the Czech Republic soon," the company said.
The company also plans to start shipping its products to Sweden and Austria, and is also working on certifying three new wheel designs for freight cars for the European market.
"The expansion of the geography and range of shipments to Europe is consistent with our strategy of promoting Evraz railway products abroad. We see considerable potential in the region and are prepared to ship up to 50,000 tonnes of product per year. Concurrently, we are developing cooperation with our partners in the U.S. Evraz now has plans to develop a new wheel design for freight cars for the American market, as well as work on high-strength steel grades," Evraz vice president for sales Ilya Shirokobrod was quoted as saying.