By KYIV. Nov 24 (Interfax-Ukraine) – Enterprises of the Ukrtruboprom association in January-September of this year increased pipe production by 5% compared to the same period last year, to 376,100 tonnes.
According to the association’s data on Friday, in January of this year, about 30,00 tonnes of pipe products were produced (44.9% compared to January 2022), in February – 39,500 tonnes (80.4% compared to February 2022), in March – 57,000 tonnes (1,631.4% compared to March 2022), in April – 42,300 tonnes (228.6% compared to April 2022), in May – 49,600 tonnes (96.5% compared to May 2022), in June – 35,000 tonnes (67.8% compared to June 2022).
In July, 43,900 tonnes of pipes were produced (an increase of 12% compared to July 2022), in August – 41,800 tonnes (14.5%), in September – 36,900 tonnes (a decrease of 10.2%).
In January-September 2023, pipe enterprises demonstrated multidirectional dynamics. In particular, Interpipe Niko Tube and Research and Production Enterprise with AI Ukrtruboizol increased the production of seamless pipes by 8.8% and 26.2%, respectively, while Trubostal reduced it by 54.5%. Centravis increased the production of stainless pipes by 12.9%, while Interpipe Novomoskovsky Pipe Plant decreased the production of electric welded pipes by 62.9%. Oscar’s pipe production plummeted by 25%.
Ukrtruboprom Director General Heorhoy Polsky said that following the results of the first nine months of this year, the pipe industry of Ukraine showed positive dynamics, despite the constant shelling of production sites located in front-line zones, in particular in Nikopol. Factories invest in worker safety, for example, by placing mobile protective units on factory floors where people can take shelter from bombing. In addition, the problem of a stable water supply to pipe production after the explosion of the Kakhovka hydroelectric power plant’s dam and the shallowing of the Kakhovka reservoir remain unresolved.
“A real stab in the back for Ukrainian exporters, in particular steel pipes, was the blockade of the Ukrainian-Polish border, which began in early November. The European direction is the only one that remained for our business after the start of the large-scale war. Many trucks with pipes are still parked in a traffic jam, and all delivery deadlines to European customers have been missed. But there is a threat of the strike expanding to other Eastern European countries. If this happens, almost all pipe factories located in the front-line regions will have to stop production facilities from mid-December,” the director general said.
In 2022, Ukrtruboprom enterprises reduced pipe production 37.9% compared to 2021 to 449,700 tonnes. Last year, all of the association’s factories showed negative dynamics.
