OREANDA-NEWS. Based on the performance results for the first half of 2007, Vyksa Steel Works (VSW), part of United Metallurgical Company (OMK), showed substantial growth in its output of large-diameter pipes (LPD), reported the press-centre of OMK.

For the first six months of 2007, VSW increased LPD output by 43% compared with the corresponding period of 2006. LDP output reached 532,481 tonnes versus 373,409 tonnes for the first half of 2006. In June 2007, VSW produced 88,004 tonnes of LPD, or 13% more than in June 2006 (77,749 tonnes).

Today, OMK is the key supplier of large diameter pipes for the Nord Stream onshore section. Since VSW joined the project, it has produced and delivered over 250,000 tonnes of large-diameter pipes for the gas pipeline construction.

OMK prepares for the commercial production of LDP for the subsea section of the Nord Stream project. "We've done a lot in this very area of work for a year," OMK President Vladimir Markin said. "In April, our company received certification to DNV-OS-F101 of Norway-based Det Norske Veritas and the Nord Stream project specifications. OMK became Russia's and the CIS's first DNV-OS-F101 certified producer of pipes for subsea pipeline systems."

Success in the bidding related to the subsea section will be another milestone in the company's history. The company was declared the preferred bidder for the supply of pipes under the Sakhalin 1 and Sakhalin 2 projects of Shell and ExxonMobil and was the only Russian supplier of main pipes. This year, VSW plans to invest 1,4 billion rubles in the upgrading of its 1,420-mm pipe production line. A total of 4,9 billion rubles will be invested in the upgrading of the LDP production facilities.