OREANDA-NEWS. March 18, 2008. OMK Steel Managing Director Nikolai Zaitsev attended the 13th annual conference "CIS Metallurgy Summit’ of the Adam Smith Institute.. This forum is one of the main venues for meetings of top managers of the CIS metallurgical sector, investors and leading market experts.

Nikolai Zaitsev spoke on the prospects and key objectives of the Russian pipe business in the current conditions. "The pipe product supply in the domestic market has been steadily growing, capacities expanding, and the market will be quite a crowded place in 1-2 years", believes the top manager. In the years to come, the expansion of the Russian pipe market will urge companies to search for new sales channels. The ensuing struggle and resistance to cheap imports are likely to result in stiffer competition and provide an additional incentive for enhancement of product quality and reduction of operating costs", concludes Nikolai Zaitsev.

Meanwhile, OMK is all set on keeping the positions gained. "United Metallurgical Company is well represented in the market offering the entire range of pipe products and has year after year been expanding its market presence", underscored Nikolai Zaitsev. "We’ve managed to maintain positive dynamics through working continuously to enhance product quality and increasing large-scale investment in production. In 2007, for implementation of all the investment projects alone the company allocated 22 billion rubles.

The primary investment projects scheduled for this year will include: putting into operation of the second LDP step-by-step forming press at Vyksa Steel Works, mastering new standard sizes of shaped pipes, launch of Mill 10-65 at Almetyevsk Pipe Plant, purchase of a coupling threading facility at Almetyevsk Pipe Plant, purchase and organization of production of seamless coupling blanks for casing pipes and a number of other projects.