OREANDA-NEWS. Vyksa Steel Works (VSW Open Joint Stock Company, based in Nizhny Novgorod Region, part of United Metallurgical Company, OMK CJSC, Moscow) produced 1.3 million tons of pipe products between January and October which represents a 10% rise against the indicators from a similar period last year. The production of large diameter pipes went up more than 20% to reach 740,000 tons.

There was a 36% fall in the production of railway wheels (down to 343,000 wheels) in the period under review as compared to a similar period last year. The production of plate steel in the period under review amounted to 464,000 tons which represents a 12% rise against the same nine month period in 2013.

"The rise of pipe manufacturing is due to an increased production volume following the upgrade of Pipe Mill 203-530 in the factory's third shop, and the growth of deliveries for OMK's strategic companies which are comprised of the largest domestic oil and gas companies. Namely, we are supplying pipes for such projects as: the Power of Siberia, Southern Corridor, Bovanenkovo-Ukhta, Filanovsky Field, and for the construction of the underwater part of the South Stream gas pipeline. The decline in wheel production can be explained by lower user purchases. Similar to last year, this has to do with a large number of new railcars which are in operation and do not yet require repairs," said Sergey Filippov, Managing Director at VSW.

The Casting and Rolling Complex (CRC, an affiliate of OMK-Steel Open Joint Stock Company, based in Vyksa, part of OMK) increased the output of hot rolled steel by 6% against a similar period last year, reaching 780,000 tons. The CRC produced 245,000 tons of strips and 23,700 tons of sheets.

"As in the first half of this year, the increase in the production is caused by an increased demand for rolled metal from the pipe shops of Vyksa Steel Works whose production capacity and order volumes have grown as compared to the previous period under review," said Oleg Fedotov, Director of CRC, commenting on the results.