OREANDA-NEWS. A new CPE pipe rolling mill (Cross Piercing Elongator) has been installed at the TMK-ARTROM pipe plant, a subsidiary of OAO TMK, in Slatina, Romania.

According to the press service of TMK, in attendance at a ceremony marking the event were Dmitriy Pumpyanskiy, Chairman of the Board of Directors of OAO TMK, Konstantin Semerikov, CEO of OAO TMK, Ioann Doncu, Ambassador of Romania in the Russian Federation, Alexander Churilin, Ambassador of the Russian Federation in Romania, and Adrian Popescu, President of TMK-ARTROM.

The CPE pipe rolling mill will produce general purpose seamless pipes with diameters of 21-114 mm, which are used in the machine building industry. The mill’s annual production capacity is approximately 100,000 metric tons of pipes, which will make it possible to double TMK-ARTROM’s current production capacity. In addition, the mill has an inbuilt upgrade option which, if exercised, could increase production by a further 60,000 metric tons of pipes per year.

According to Dmitriy Pumpyanskiy, the installation of the new equipment is a key event in TMK’s strategic investment program, the goal of which is to help the Company become a global player in the international pipe market. By 2010 the Company will be able to produce more than 3 million metric tons of seamless pipes per year.

TMK-ARTROM specialises in the production of seamless pipes in the machine building range. The plant was acquired by TMK in March 2006 together with TMK-Resita metallurgical works.

A single complex producing steel, billets and seamless pipes for the European market was created from the union of the two businesses.