OMK's Vyksa pipe mill edges output down 2% in 5 mths
NIZHNY NOVGOROD. June 11 (Interfax) - The Vyksa Steel Plant (VMZ) , Russia's biggest pipe mill, reduced pipe production 2% year-on-year in the first five months of 2009 to 606,330 tonnes, United Metallurgical Company (OMK), which controls the plant, said in a press release.
Overall pipe output in May fell 3.1% year-on-year to 115,519 tonnes, including 66,741 tonnes of large-diameter pipes, output of which rose 38.2%.
"Large-diameter pipe production soared in May due to OMK's involvement in pipeline mega-projects," said Vladimir Kochetkov, VMZ's managing director.
VMZ shipped a latest consignment of pipes for the Nord Stream gas pipeline, including the world's first pipes 1,219-millimeter pipes with maximum wall thickness of 41 mm for this diameter.
VMZ also supplies pipes for the Central Asia-China gas pipeline and Druzhba-Sochi project.
Rail carriage wheel production at VMZ fell substantially: to 187,539 wheels in January-May this year from 341,765 in the same period of last year, and to 39,172 from 60,123 in May.
Gazprombank said this week that it had opened an 18-month credit facility of 3 billion rubles for VMZ for operating purposes.
OMK is one of Russia's largest producers of pipes, railcar wheels, and other metal products for energy, transport and industrial companies.
OMK includes the Vyksa plant and a new steel works to provide this with feedstock in the Nizhny Novgorod region and the smaller Chusovoi and Schyolkovo metallurgical plants, Almetyevsk Tube Works, Trubodetal and coke producer Gubakhinsky Koks.