Posted on 30 Apr 2024
Russia has upped stainless steel pipe imports from China to replace similar European products amid Western sanctions against Russia, TMK commercial director Alexey Smirnov said at the Stainless Steel and the Russian Market conference in Volgograd last week.
According to Smirnov, from 2019 to 2022, Russia’s market consumption of seamless stainless pipes was in the range of 32,000-40,000 tonnes. “In 2023, there was a sharp increase of 55% on-year due to increased imports from China. This year, the market consumption will decrease due to previously accumulated reserves,” he added.
Similar trends are being observed in the segment of welded stainless steel pipe, whose consumption grew 18% in 2023 but is expected to decrease in 2024 due to lower activity at end users, Kallanish notes.
Earlier, Russia’s Foundation for Development of Tube Industry (FRTP) said the first half of 2024 will be relatively favourable for pipemakers in Russia, especially for oil and gas pipes and construction pipe products (see Kallanish passim). The only sector where there will be a drawdown in consumption due to the suspension of a number of projects is large-diameter pipe (LDP).
FRTP’s founders are the eight largest pipe manufacturing plants belonging to TMK and United Metallurgical Company (OMK), which produce 65-70% of all pipe in Russia.
TMK said earlier it will maintain focus on domestic markets, and is not expecting Western sanctions to have a significant impact (see Kallanish passim). Its pipe sales, the majority of which are carbon steel pipe, amounted last year to 4.2 million tonnes. Sales of seamless pipe comprised 3.43mt and welded pipe were 762,000 tonnes.
In March, Russia produced 1.1mt of pipe, 6.8% less on-year, according to data from domestic analytical company Chermet. January-March output amounted to 2.9mt, down 7.4%.
Source:Kallanish
