Day: 7 July 2022

Ukrainian pipe and railway products manufacturer Interpipe has developed a new type of railway wheels for the European Union market for the first time since Russia invaded Ukraine, the company tells Kallanish.

The company has already shipped the debut, trial batch to the customer, it says. Interpipe started product development before the Russian-Ukrainian war and the main customer’s request was a special shape of the 840mm wheel. This is a category 2 wheel made of ER7 steel according to the European standard.

This product is designed for 1,435mm electric railway rolling stock. It can be installed on electric trains for ordinary long-distance transportation.

Ukrainian wheels will shortly be in use on the cars of the national railway network in one of the largest EU countries, the steelmaker says.

Interpipe decreased production in the first quarter due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine (see Kallanish passim). The company reduced steel production by 16% on-year to 163,000 tonnes. Pipe output declined by 12% to 97,000t and railway products by 43% to 23,000t. Product sales in Q1 fell by 10% to 140,000t.

Interpipe nevertheless saw revenue increase in Q1 by 19% on-year to $239 million. However, Ebitda declined by 63% to $15m. Net profit grew 6% to $21.8m.

On top of the loss of sales volumes and extra logistics costs due to the Russian invasion, financial performance was additionally affected by costlier raw materials and production inputs – scrap, electricity, and natural gas. These skyrocketed in Q1 by more than six times on-year, Interpipe said.

Earlier, Interpipe said its main strategic objectives are to increase production, to diversify its geographical presence and to expand presence of its products in the global market (see Kallanish passim). It also aims to supply its American customers again shortly, after the US suspended the 25% Section 232 duty on Ukrainian steel for one year.

Svetoslav Abrossimov Bulgaria

French merchant bar mill Laminés Marchands Européens (LME) and Stahl Gerlafingen (SG) in Switzerland, both part of Italian merchant bar producer Beltrame, are to revamp their facilities with two new heating plants for blooms. These will be provided by equipment maker GF-ELTI.

The new equipment will enhance quality, and lower energy consumption and emissions. The start-up of both plants is planned for the beginning of 2023. LME will install a Walking Beam Furnace, bilateral heating type, and 13 pairs of GF-ELTI Regenerative Burners of 4.0 megawatts each, with digital on-off control and a productivity of 90 tonnes/hour. The new SG plant will consist of a pusher furnace with bilateral heating type, and 23 pairs of GF-ELTI Regenerative Burners of 3.2MW each, with digital on-off control, capable of reaching a 124 t/h production.

The new furnaces can use hydrogen thanks to the experience gained by GF-ELTI’s H2BURN – High Efficiency Burners fuelled with a hydro-methane blend.

“The two new reheating furnaces at the French and Swiss plants will … guarantee high productivity and reliability. This will allow us to be even more competitive in an increasingly demanding steel market,” Beltrame chief executive Alain Creteur says in a joint note seen by Kallanish.

Meanwhile in Romania, Beltrame restarted producing rebar at the recently acquired steel plant COS Targoviste. The steelmaker intends to invest €100 million ($103m) over the next five years to update Targoviste’s outdated equipment, boosting its competitiveness at a European level (see Kallanish 24 June).

Natalia Capra France

Distributor and service centre Eusider has acquired distribution company Metall Steel and is integrating it into its subsidiary, Metaltubi, president Eufrasio Anghileri announced during a webinar organised by Siderweb.

The integration between Eusider’s Metaltubi and the newly acquired company has created the Metall Steel Metaltubi subsidiary, which is 70% owned by Eusider.

The acquisition will enhance the distributor’s product range as the new company plans to sell an annual volume of about 100,000 tonnes of merchant bars, pipes and rebar, for a turnover of €150 million ($154m), Kallanish notes.

Eusider is building a large new warehouse in Ostiglia that should be commissioned by December. It aims to optimise and improve logistics besides creating a prominent sales hub. The company also intends to boost its river transport by using the nearby Canalbianco River.

Natalia Capra France

Volkswagen will announce the liquidation of its production site in Russia this week, according to Russian media reports.

“Today or tomorrow, the Volkswagen concern will announce the liquidation of the site in Nizhny Novgorod,” Gazeta.Ru reported on Wednesday, quoting two informed sources, one of them in the Russian office of the German concern. “The official reason is the reduction in the supply of auto components to Russia, as well as the blocking of logistics supplies, but this is such a wording to avoid potential criminal cases due to the support of anti-Russian sanctions.”

Neither Volkswagen nor Volkswagen Rus responded to Kallanish request for comment before deadline on Wednesday.

Earlier, Russian media reported that Volkswagen management offered workers of the plant in Nizhny Novgorod to resign of their own free will.

The Nizhny Novgorod site produced Skoda Kodiaq, Karoq, Octavia and Volkswagen Taos. The design capacity of the plant is 132,000 vehicles per year. In February 2021, the 400,000th car was assembled on the assembly line in Nizhny Novgorod using the full cycle method. 

The Volkswagen concern ceased its activities in Russia in April after the Russian invasion of Ukraine and sanctions against Moscow (see Kallanish passim).

More than 20 foreign carmakers have suspended production or left the Russian market since Russian forces invaded Ukraine on 24 February.

Carmakers in Russia decreased output significantly in January-May to 268,000 passenger cars, down by 56.4% on-year. In May alone, only 4,000 units were produced, down 96.7% on-year.

Svetoslav Abrossimov Bulgaria