According to the data issued by Russia's Ministry of Economic Development, in the first 11 months of this year Russia registered a 37.6 percent increase in its pipe production to 8.2 million mt.
In particular, in the January-November period, Russia's output of electric-welded large diameter (LD) pipes increased by 65.9 percent, its production of electric-welded pipes, excluding LD pipes, went up by 28.7 percent, its production of welded pipes went down by 8.2 percent, production of seamless pipes saw an increase of 25.7 percent, output of casing pipes increased by 26.1 percent, production of drill pipes went up by 52.4 percent, while output of tubing increased by 13.1 percent, all compared to the same period last year.
In January-November this year, an increase in pipe production was registered by all major domestic pipemakers. In particular, TMK's Volzhsky Pipe Plant saw its pipe production rise by 77.3 percent to 970,000 mt, its subsidiary Taganrog Metallurgical Works saw a 20.8 percent increase in output to 656,400 mt, its Seversky Tube Works registered a 15.3 percent increase to 619,200 mt, while its Sinarsky Pipe Plant saw its pipe output increase by 6.9 percent to 481,000 mt, all compared to January-November2009. Meanwhile, OMK's Vyksa Steel Works (Vyksa) increased its pipe output by 32.3 percent to 1.8 million mt, ChTPZ Group's Pervouralsky Novotrubny Works saw a 25.7 percent rise in its pipe output to 628,700 mt and the same group's Chelyabinsk Tube Rolling Plant saw its pipe production increase by 40.9 percent to 732,300 mt, all compared to the first 11 months of the previous year.
In January-October 2010, Russia more than doubled its steel pipe imports by 139 percent year on year to 1.181 million mt. The share of imported pipes in the domestic market amounted to 15.1 percent, which is above the annual average level for 2009, i.e., 10.8 percent.
Meanwhile, in January-October the country's pipe exports decreased by 36 percent year on year to 855,900 mt.
The domestic consumption of pipes in January-October (excluding stocks) increased by 75.2 percent year on year and by 16.2 percent compared to the same period of 2008, with pipemakers switching from foreign markets to satisfy demand from the domestic market.