OREANDA-NEWS. June 29, 2007. Byelorussian Steel Works produced the first hollow bloom for hot-rolled seamless pipe manufacturing, according to the information conveyed to the journalists by Victor Matochkin, chief engineer of the enterprise, reported the press-centre of Byelorussian Steel Works.

According to the chief engineer pipe piercing is the first stage in fabrication of this type of product. The length of the first hollow bloom is about 6 m, diameter – 148 mm, wall thickness – 18,7 mm. Piercing of the first hollow bloom was carried out successfully. The operation of the personnel and the equipment was accurate and well organized., stated the chief engineer.

Victor Matochkin informed that the next stage of pipe production is PQF mill used to produce the required wall thickness. Then the hollow bloom goes to the stretch-reducing mill where final geometrical parameters of a pipe are formed. After that the pipe is cooled. The whole production cycle will be commissioned next week, said the chief engineer.

Seamless pipe production facility is planned to be put into operation July 3, 2007. $270 million were invested in realization of this project. The capacity of the pipe mill will be 252 thousand tons of pipes per year.