Centravis to strengthen market position in Europe

Ukrainian stainless seamless pipe producer Centravis aims to strengthen its position in the European market, Kallanish notes.

“During my business trip to Germany, I met with several customers and we discussed tough competition in Europe and further steps to strengthen the position of Centravis, especially in the automotive and instrument segments,” says the company’s chief sales officer, Artem Atanasov. “The launch of production in Uzhgorod allows us to increase production volumes, as well as to reduce logistics costs for product delivery to our customers in Europe.”

According to him, Centravis production continues to work at full capacity and all equipment is running. “The hot and the cold shops in Nikopol and production site in Uzhgorod are working,” he explains.

The pipemaker decreased exports in 2022 due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the need to rebuild logistics, electricity shortages and Russian shelling (see Kallanish passim). Last year, exports amounted to 11,600 tonnes, down by 33% on-year. Income generated was €125.8 million ($135m), less by 9%. Most deliveries went to Germany, Italy and the USA.

In February, the company launched a new production facility in Uzhhorod, western Ukraine (see Kallanish passim). It specialises in instrument pipe for automotive brands like Volkswagen, Audi, BMW and Chevrolet. The total investment in the construction of the plant amounted to over UAH 50 million ($1.4m).

Centravis plans to expand production at Uzhgorod, with construction of the second phase planned to be completed this summer.

Ukraine’s pipemakers increased exports in February compared with the previous month to 32,710t, up by 57.4% on-month (see Kallanish passim). In January-February, Ukraine exported 53,490t of pipe worth $103.1m, up by 24.7% in revenue terms compared to the same period last year.

Pipemakers decreased production last year amid the ongoing Russian invasion to 608,000t, down by 38% on-year.

Svetoslav Abrossimov Bulgaria