OREANDA-NEWS. On 08 April 2009 was announced, that at Electric-Weld Pipe Workshop No. 5 (EWPW-5) of the Electric Pipe-Welding Division for small and medium diameter pipes (EPWD SMD), Vyksa Steel Works (VSW, Nizhni Novgorod Region), part of United Metallurgical Company (OMK), had completed the installation of the first of two manufacturing facilities made by Germany-based EMAG GmbH. The facilities are designed for the production of couplings for VSW-made casing pipes.

The equipment comprises two coupling-cutting mills, as well as transport, emulsion, and chip removal systems. In March, it is planned to start the installation of the second complex, which is supposed to be launched in the summer of 2009. The total investments in the purchase and installation of the new equipment will reach about 500 million rubles.

At present, EWPW-5 produces couplings for casing pipes using HITACHI-made modular machines, which are supposed to be modernized this year. After the launch of the EMAG facilities (which will annually produce a total of more than 665 thousand couplings of 168.3 mm in diameter of group D with Buttress thread), VSW's coupling production capacity will increase more than 2-fold, which will make it facilitate meeting the growing demand in the Russian and global market for casing pipes designed for oil and gas wells. The new equipment will be used to manufacture pipes with extra tight threads. Such pipes are in great demand with gas producing companies.

The installation of the new coupling-cutting facilities is part of the integrated project for modernization of EPWD SMD. The project’s main purpose is to produce more pipes of a broader range and of better quality for the oil-gas and construction sectors.