OREANDA-NEWS. November 12, 2009. According to Vedomosti, Russian pipe producers have proposed ending the import duty exemption for Interpipe, the largest Ukrainian pipe producer, reported the press-centre of OTKRITIE FC.

At present, Ukrainian pipes are subject to an antidumping duty in the range of 11-55%. However, Interpipe’s supplies to Russia are only limited by an import quota (427,000 for 2009). The Russian government is now discussing an extension of the quota for 2010.

View: Acceptance of  this new proposal by the government would be positive for TMK, Russia’s largest producer of OCTG pipes and Interpipe’s closest competitor. Having said that, we understand that the fact that Russian oil producers oppose this decision make its realization fairly unlikely.