OREANDA-NEWS. A coordination board meeting took place at the Chelyabinsk Pipe-Rolling Plant (ChelPipe Group) between ChelPipe Group and Metalloinvest to discuss cooperation in the supply of flat steel and pipe billets for producing welded and weldless pipes. The parties summarised the results of their work in 2013 and set out the extent of their collaboration in 2014-2015.

Boris Kovalenkov, Commercial Director of the ChelPipe Group, said: “Our companies are tied through many years of fruitful relations. Metalloinvest provides approximately 20% of the total amount of flat steel used to produce ChelPipe's large-diameter pipes. The constructive dialogue between metal producers and pipe manufacturers that we establish at such meetings allows our companies to take part in future projects in the oil and gas industry. As such, ChelPipe and Metalloinvest successfully fulfilled their supply commitments for the construction of pipes used to build SIBUR's product pipeline from Purovsky Gas Condensate Processing Plant to Tobolsk-Neftekhim.

Andrey Prosyanik, Deputy Commercial Director of Domestic Sales and Supplies at Metalloinvest, commented: “Client demand for pipes, and metal accordingly, is becoming more exacting. In order to meet this demand, we need to work in tandem as metal supplier and pipe manufacturer. Coordination meetings enable this to happen, allowing us to establish communication between Metalloinvest's specialists and ChelPipe Group.”

As part of the working meeting, the partners discussed issues of long-term pricing, steps to increase the quality of flat steel, the development of product quality control methods, as well as the development of industrial production of corrosion-resistant steel grades, used to manufacture pipes for Rosneft projects.