Interpipe NTZ shipped a record volume of wheel pairs to the EU in the fall of 2022

In the fall of 2022, Interpipe Nizhnyodniprovsky pipe rolling plant (Interpipe NTZ), despite the decline in the railcar repair segment, shipped a record volume of wheelsets to European customers. This is stated in the interim report of the company’s management for 2022.

“The working conditions of the country’s industrial enterprises remain difficult: the war drags on, and Russia continues to use terror tactics. Large-scale shelling of populated areas and destruction of infrastructure increase the risks to the economy and financial stability. Despite this, Interpipe NTZ continues to work, produce and ship products, pay taxes,” the message says.

The European market will become the main consumer of wheels and wheel pairs for rolling stock in 2022. Its share in the total volume of sold products reached 50%. European partners have already concluded contracts for the supply of such products for 2023. At the same time, the blocked ports did not prevent the shipment of wheels and pipes to the USA and the Middle East.

No less important positions belong to the Ukrainian market and ensuring the operation of critical railway infrastructure.

“Since the beginning of the full-scale invasion, the company has been consistently paying salaries to employees, including those on layoff. Despite all the difficulties, from the first day of the war, Interpipe NTZ has been helping the Armed Forces, supporting doctors and paramedics, taking care of internally displaced persons – in particular, those who left for the Nikopol and Novomoskovsk districts,” the company adds.

In addition, the company buys helmets, uniforms, tactical ammunition and first-aid kits, generators, tools and special equipment for workers who have been mobilized to the ranks of the Armed Forces.

In 2022, Interpipe NTZ completed the shipment of 1,500 wheels for freight cars with a diameter of 915 mm to the national railway operator of Saudi Arabia.

“When carrying out the order, a special heat treatment mode was used, which increases the wear resistance of the wheels during operation in difficult conditions. Arabian Railways uses these products to restore rolling stock,” the report says.

Also, at the end of the year, the plant underwent an audit and updated the quality certificates necessary for cooperation with many European clients.

“While the plant continues to operate, the ongoing hostilities pose significant future uncertainties for the company, including the risk of property loss due to hostilities, air attacks, and missile strikes, as well as customer and personnel shortages caused by population immigration and martial law restrictions in Ukraine. The full level of possible influence on the development of military operations on the business of society is unknown, but its scale can be serious,” the company states.

As GMK Center reported earlier, in January-September 2022, Interpipe reduced steel production by 36.3% compared to the same period in 2021 – to 463,000 tons. The production of railway products fell by 49.6% y/y – to 64,000 tons, and the output of pipes – by 30.2% y/y, to 309,000 tons.

Interpipe is an international vertically integrated pipe and wheel company, one of the top 10 global manufacturers of seamless pipes and one of the top 3 producers of wrought wheels. It includes Interpipe Nizhnyodniprovsky pipe rolling plant, Interpipe Novomoskovsk pipe plant (NMTZ), Interpipe Niko-Tube, Dnipropetrovsk Vtormet and the electric steel smelting complex Interpipe Steel.