OREANDA-NEWS. Metinvest Group received permission to supply large diameter pipes fabricated from internally produced pipe-making plate for oil and gas pipelines in Iraq.

The Oil Ministry of Iraq included Metinvest Group into its list of certified suppliers of large diameter pipes manufactured from internally produced pipe-making plate. The move followed Azovstal Iron and Steel Works and Khartsyzsk Pipe Plant passing the final qualification stage, a technical audit by Iraqi's state-owned South Oil Company.

Now that Azovstal is an Iraqi certified supplier of pipe-making plate, Metinvest Group can participate in Iraqi state projects to build oil and gas pipelines and supply pipes fabricated from internally produced pipe-making plate. The Company can also sell flats to other pipe mills that wish to supply products to Iraq.

Until recently, Iraq only used pipes made from pipe-making plate produced in Western Europe, Japan and the U.S.A.

Dmitriy Nikolaenko, Sales Director of Metinvest Holding, LLC:

“The completion of the qualification process provides grounds for long-term partnership with consumers of large diameter pipes in Iraq, one of the largest and most prospective markets in the Middle East. This also proves that Khartsyzsk Pipe and Azovstal's products are highly competitive and that we are ready to develop and expand our supply geography. Strengthening cooperation in Iraq is one of the strategic goals of Metinvest's pipe business and we are pursuing the goal step by step.”