OREANDA-NEWS. TMK, the leading Russian steel pipe company, has announced that Volzhsky Pipe Plant (VTZ), a member of TMK, and Welspun Gujarat Stahl Rohren (Weslpun), India’s largest manufacturer of high-end large-diameter pipes for oil and gas industry, have signed the MOU and agreed to set up a joint venture.

A 60% stake in the joint venture will belong to VTZ and 40% will belong to Welspun.

The new capacities are intended for the production of double submerged arc welded (DSAW) longitudinal pipes with 20” (508mm) to 56” (1420 mm) diameter with one seam, up to 40 millimeters wall thickness and up to 18 meters in length and spiral welded pipes. On completion of the DSAW plant, the joint venture’s capacity in the production of large-diameter welded pipes is expected to be more than 1.2 million tons per annum.

The start-up of large-diameter longitudinal welded pipe production is scheduled for Q4 2007.

Large-diameter welded pipes are used in the construction of oil and gas trunk pipelines. Russia’s largest consumers of these products are Gazprom and Transneft. ТМК also sells 56” line pipes to Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan and other countries of CIS and Caspian region.