According to the data issued by Sergey Bilan, vice president and chief marketing officer of Russia's largest oil and gas pipe producer TMK, at the annual congress of the Russian Union of Metal and Steel Suppliers in Yekaterinburg city, in January-May this year Russian pipe producers manufactured 3.5 million mt of pipe products - up 37.8 percent year on year, while the country's domestic pipe product consumption amounted to 3.4 million mt - up 58.6 percent year on year. The main drivers of the increase were large diameter pipes, followed by drill and section steel pipes.
Accordingly, during the first five months of the current year Russia saw a 36 percent decrease year on year in its pipe exports to 377,000 mt, due to active protectionist policies in the international markets; however, the country increased its imports of pipes by 58 percent year on year to 344,000 mt. Import products accounted for about ten percent of the Russian domestic pipe market, creating normal levels of competition, Mr. Bilan said.
As regards the raw materials price trend, Mr. Bilan said that, currently, a downward price trend is seen only in the scrap market, while the markets of pig iron, billets and semi-finished steel products have entered stable trends.