OREANDA-NEWS. Dubai, UAE: Interpipe, a leading steel pipe manufacturing company, has announced putting in place a local support team to work on the ground based in Basra following approval from South Oil Company (SOC), one of the major fundamental formations of Iraqi national oil company (INOC), as a preferred supplier for the country.

The announcement sees Interpipe appoint a new Iraq country manager with immediate effect based in Basra. Following several recent meetings in Iraq with South Oil and a lengthy audit of its steel mill in Ukraine, the approval allows Interpipe to participate in local tenders. The meetings in Iraq also saw a tour of the oil fields due to the increasing need to provide a better service of transporting and stocking pipes from the ports.

Duncan Pell, regional director for MENA & Asia, Interpipe ME said: “The development of Interpipe in Iraq is part of our overall growth strategy across the wider Middle East and Africa region. Whilst at the World Economic Forum last week in Jordan, it was clear that the potential of Iraq will be realized over the next few years and Interpipe aim to contribute significantly to driving the Iraqi infrastructure, economy and development.”

Andrey Burtsev, regional director, market development, Interpipe ME said: “The approval from South Oil signifies Interpipe's commitment to Iraq which has the potential to reclaim its historical position as one of the most prosperous economies in the Middle East. With the National Development Plan well under way, we expect to see early signs of success in Iraq from our efforts in the latter half of 2013.”

Interpipe has also appointed a local partner in Basra, Al Nukhba Oil Field Services, to provide company facilities and fulfill on-the-ground security requirements.

Interpipe has been working in the steel manufacturing industry since 1895 and produced over 1.1 million tons of carbon steel pipes in 2012.

Interpipe is a vertically integrated steel pipe and railway wheel company. It is among the ten largest producers of pipe products and the third largest producer of railway wheels in the world. The Company's products are supplied to 80 countries all over the world through a chain of commercial offices located in Ukraine, Russia, Kazakhstan, Europe, the USA and the Middle East.

In 2012 the Company's mills produced about 1.1 million tons of pipe and wheel products. Interpipe Steel is a key investment project for Interpipe that will provide steel and pipe production with its own billets. The new plant's capacity will be 1,320,000 tons a year, which will make it the largest mill in Eastern Europe.

Total investments for the project are USD D 700 million. The electric arc furnace facility will replace an obsolete open-hearth furnace steel production. This will reduce energy consumption per ton of steel; reduce environmental emissions and consumption of natural gas.