ChelPipe Group expects production volumes in 2020 to remain flat from last year, despite robust domestic and international demand for steel pipe products.
The company will focus on enhancing operational efficiency and customer experience this year, as well as obtaining market exposure in other geographical areas and market segments.
ChelPipe’s nearly 2mn mt of pipe shipments comprised 18pc of Russian pipe producers’ total shipments in 2019. The company’s exports last year also rose 36pc from 2018, resulting in wider international and customer reach.
The company’s trunk pipeline division sales rose 17pc in 2019 from the year before, while its shipments of pipeline connecting bends rose by 22pc.
ChelPipe also contributed to some major projects, like the Saryarka Gas pipeline project, Nur-Sultan, and Turkmenistan, which is part of the Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India project, by exclusively supplying large diameter pipes. This led to 33pc increase in LDP shipments, making ChelPipe Russia’s largest LDP producer.
Shipments to other segments—namely oil country tubular goods (OCTG) and prime threaded connections (PTC)—also increased in 2019. OCTG shipments surged by 3pc over 2018, as did PTC shipments by 23pc, mostly because of higher oil exploration and production.
Domestic shipments declined by 6pc in 2019 from the year before, with a slight decline in demand for seamless pipes.