OREANDA-NEWS. On December 18, 2006, the first column of the production building, where two new lines for the application of external corrosion resistant coating (CRC) to pipes of 508 mm to 1,420 mm in diameter with wall thicknesses of up to 48 mm will be installed, was erected at Vyksa Steel Works (VSW, Nizhni Novgorod Region), part of United Metallurgical Company (OMK).

According to the press service of OMK, the equipment for the new CRC lines will be designed, produced, and installed by Selmers Technology B.V., the Netherlands, under the agreement entered into with VSW in August 2006. The investments account for more than 500 million rubles. The equipment deliveries are scheduled for the May-July 2007, with the start-up operations to be completed in the October-November 2007.

The general contractor for the complex construction is Stroytekhno, Vyksa.

The lines' total design capacity will be 950 thousand tonnes of pipes a year. The VSW LDP Electric Pipe-Welding Division (LDP EPWD) already has one CRC line for 1,420-mm pipes. After the launch of the new equipment, the annual capacity of the external CRC complex will be increased to 1,82 million tonnes.

The construction of the new CRC lines is part of the program to increase the capacity of the VSW LDP EPWD. In June 2006, OMK and SMS Meer, Germany, will enter into an agreement for the installation, in 2007, of the second stepwise molding press at the VSW-based 1,420-mm pipe production line, which will result in the increase in the line's annual capacity from 570 to 950 thousand tonnes. With due account for the 1,067-mm pipe production line, VSW's total LDP production capacity will be about 2 million tonnes a year.