OREANDA-NEWS. May 18, 2007. OAO “ТМК”, one of the world’s largest oil and gas pipe producers and Russian pipe industry market leader announces that it has agreed with SMS Demag (part of the SMS Gmbh Group), one of the largest manufacturers of steelmaking equipment in the world, for the supply of technological equipment designed to increase TMK’s Volzhsky Pipe Plant (VTZ) billet production volume.

Under this agreement, SMS Demag will supply the equipment for the continuous casting machine #3 used for billet production in Volzhsky’s arc-furnace shop. This equipment will increase this machine’s productivity and improve production mix, raising its annual capacity to 750 000 tonnes of high-quality billets, used in high-tech seamless pipe production.

This agreement with SMS Demag falls under the Strategic Partnership Agreement between TMK and the SMS Group, valid up to 2015. The SMS Group has been working with TMK since 2001 and is supplying equipment for the upgrading of steelmaking and pipe-mill production facilities at Volzhsky Pipe Plant, Seversky Tube Works and Taganrog metallurgical Works, all part of the TMK group.