November 22, 2013. ChTPZ Group and Magnitogorsk Iron & Steel Works (MMK) 13th Coordination Council was held at Chelyabinsk Tube Rolling Plant as part of the two companies' strategic cooperation project in the field of providing the fuel and energy sector enterprises with good quality pipes. Special attention was paid to joining Gazprom's South Stream Project, ChTPZ Group's press service reports.

'South Stream is a project with strict quality requirements and delivery deadlines. To join in, we, the pipe manufacturers, need the support of our partners from the metallurgical enterprises. Our companies have often worked together in oil and gas projects. For one, ChTPZ and MMK cooperated smoothly on the Central Asia-China/Line C Project, and our customers pointed out specifically how satisfied they were with our collaboration. This kind of cooperation helps the metallurgical and the pipe manufacturing industries to stay in the avant-garde of the industrial sector,' says ChTPZ Group Director-General Yaroslav Zhdan.

The other points on the agenda of this meeting had to do with reducing the time of delivery, increasing the quality of steel sheets, and expanding the product range. ChTPZ Group and MMK are working methodically on mastering new product types: for one, the production of rolled sheets with strength grade X70 for the Beineu-Bozoi-Shymkent Project was launched, as well as the production of rolled sheets with strength grade X80 for the Central Asia-China/Line C Project and the production of rolled sheets with strength grade X52 for V.Filanovsky deposit.

'The year 2014 is not going to be easy, and we have to live through it together. The two companies' strategic partnership is a definite competitive advantage that we should use. Our plan is not only to retain but also to increase our share of the market. It is only together that we can move forward,' says MMK Director-General Boris Dubrovsky.