MMK co-ops with Gazprom

14 January 2010 (12:08)

A meeting was held in Gazprom’s headquarters on the need to buy some large-diameter pipes from a Russian manufacturer in 2010-2012.


The meeting was chaired by Gazprom Deputy Chairman of the Supervisory Board Alexander Ananenkov. Gazprom Supervisory Board members, department directors and a number of experts, as well as some representatives of Russian pipe-making and metallurgical enterprises (including an executive from Magnitogorsk Iron & Steel Works) were also present.


The attendees spoke about how to plan and organize the delivery of Russian LDPs to Gazprom over the next three years. It was announced that the timely supplies of pipes to the top-priority natural gas networks currently constructed in various Russian regions were particularly important. During the meeting, the pipe manufacturing companies’ representatives made their reports on product development and on how they were going to focus on using Russian strip material in pipe-making. They also thanked Gazprom for greatly supporting the Russian metallurgical industry by buying their competitive pipe produce.


Gazprom and some pipe manufacturers that supply their produce to the oil and gas companies are Magnitogorsk Iron & Steel Works’s important strategic partners. In 2007, Magnitogorsk Iron & Steel Works and Gazprom signed a cooperation agreement valid through 2015. Under this agreement, the two parties opt for mutually beneficial cooperation through supplying Gazprom and its partner enterprises from related industry fields with the metal products they need.


‘This cooperation between Magnitogorsk Iron & Steel Works (MMK) and Gazprom has already resulted in the launch of the unique Mill 5000 at MMK in the summer of 2009. The mill is meant for making tube stock,’ MMK PR Department reports. In addition to this, continuous casting machine 6 was launched at MMK oxygen converter shop in December 2009. This machine now produces intermediate products for Mill 5000.


Last July, when Magnitogorsk hosted a meeting on metallurgical development issues chaired by Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, Gazprom Deputy Chairman of the Supervisory Board Alexander Ananenkov said Russia experienced some shortage of high quality strip material for LDPs; the shortage amounted to as much as 1 million tons in 2007-2008. Thanks to the launch of the new Mill 5000 at MMK, pipe manufacturers were provided with plenty of great quality LDP strip material. MMK actually signed some agreements with Pipe Metallurgical Company (TMK) and ChTPZ Group, the pipe-making industry’s major enterprises. The agreements provide for the delivery of tube stock made at the new mill. What is more, ChTPZ Group is now putting up a pipe-welding mill in Chelyabinsk. This mill will use MMK’s sheets to make pipes with the diameter of 1,420 mm. The mill is expected to be completed in the summer of 2010.


Other materials on the topic::