OREANDA-NEWS. United Metallurgical Company (OMK) held a grand opening ceremony for a new OMK Tube pipe plant in Houston (Texas, US). The plant’s rated capacity is 200,000 tonnes of carbon and low-alloy casings and tubing. Total investment in the plant will amount to 3 billion rubles by 2015.

The official event gathered over 150 people: representatives of Russian and US metallurgical, oil and gas companies, construction companies, suppliers of equipment, managers and employees of OMK enterprises. Honorary guests were shown around the plant with advanced high-tech equipment.

The first pipe was produced at the plant in December 2012. OMK Tube can manufacture pipes of the following parameters: diameter from 60.0 to 177.8 mm, wall thickness from 3.0 to 12.7 mm. At present, the process technology is mastered, and works to drive the production to the rated capacity are conducted. The plant was constructed in the second – fourth quarters of 2012. Equipment from Nakata (Japan), Termatool (US), EFD (Norway), etc. is supplied by Nippon Steel Trading (Japan). Steel used to make the pipes is sourced from local steel producers. The possibility to deliver steel from the Casting and Rolling Complex (Vyksa), which is a part of OMK, in the future is being considered.

OMK President Vladimir Markin said of the event, “Construction and launching of our own pipe plant in the US is a logical step for OMK to implement the strategy of the business’s geographical and product diversification. This implies widening the country’s sales markets due to establishing new production facilities in the regions abroad with steady demand. The US market is very important for OMK. Our own facilities for production and finishing of casings and pipes for main pipelines, as well as established distribution network, will enable OMK to widen and strengthen its positions on the North American market.”

OMK’s products have been sold on the US market since 2004 through its local office located in Houston. In 2011, the company acquired Houston-based Tubular Solutions Inc., a finishing, heat treating, threading (including premium threading) and beading facility. The new pipe plant is located in the neighborhood of a pipe processing facilities and this enables the cutting of transport expenses and prompt execution of orders. Having launched the plant, OMK is able now to satisfy demand of its US clients in full due to a common production chain from delivery of steel, pipe production (OMK Tube), their finishing and processing (Tubular Solutions) to sales to end customers through its own distribution networks (Vyksa-OMK trading company). North American assets are operated by OMK North America Inc., Vyksa-OMK subsidiary.

Vyksa-OMK trading company will distribute the products manufactured both at the US-based local plant and Russian enterprises of OMK. The largest oil and gas deposits are located in Texas, and almost half of all US refineries are concentrated around Houston. All this makes Texas an important consumer of oil and gas pipes. In the future, growth of demand in OCTG pipes is expected in the US due to shale development. This creates new and large-scale opportunities for OMK development in North America.