OREANDA-NEWS. TMK, one of the world’s leading producers of tubular products for the oil and gas industry, and Italian SMS MEER S.p.A have signed contracts for the manufacture and supply of advanced equipment for seamless pipe heat treatment facilities to be built at Seversky Tube Works and TMK-ARTROM, Romania.

The scope of supply includes heating furnaces, tempering furnaces, quenching equipment – inside and outside spray systems, and a quench tank. Pipe sizing and straightening equipment, as well as closed-loop water treatment equipment will also be supplied by SMS under separate contracts.

The design capacity of heat treatment lines at TMK-ARTROM and Seversky Tube Works will be 165 thousand tonnes and 265 thousand tonnes of heat-treated pipes per year, respectively. The Romanian plant is already developing equipment specifications, with shipments starting towards the end of 2016. The line performance tests and start-up are scheduled for the second quarter of 2017. Site preparation and construction of power supply facilities at Seversky Tube Works are scheduled for 2016–2017. The new line performance tests and start-up are expected to take place in the first quarter of 2018.

“In 2014, TMK largely completed its capacity upgrade capex programme at the Company’s production facilities. Now we are shifting our focus to finishing operations – heat treatment, pipe finishing, coating and threading operations, which will add value to our finished products. The launches of state-of-the-art, high-capacity heat treatment facilities at the Russian and Romanian plants will help to improve product quality and expand the range of tubular products with enhanced performance,” said Alexander Klachkov, Deputy CEO and Chief Engineer of TMK.