OMK has begun shipping large diameter pipes for the nord stream 2 pipeline

Today Vyksa Steel Works (AO VMZ, Nizhny Novgorod Region, part of United Metallurgical Company, AO OMK, Moscow) has begun shipment of large diameter pipes for the submersible international pipeline Nord Stream 2. A train with the pipes has departed from Vyksa-Promyshlennaya railway station to the coating plant in Kotka, Finland.

Prior to that, a meeting was held. Matthias Warnig, Chief Executive Officer at Nord Stream 2 AG, Reinhard Ontyd, Chief Commercial Officer at Nord Stream 2 AG, Henning Kothe, Chief Project Officer at Nord Stream 2, Anatoly Sedykh, Chairman of the Board at OMK, Vladimir Markin, President at OMK, Alexander Barykov, Executive Director at AO VMZ, employees of Vyksa Steel Works and other participants of the development, mastering and manufacturing of pipes for this major international project.

The pipes for the Nord Stream 2 (internal diameter of 1,153 mm, wall thickness of 30.9mm and 34.6mm) with a three-layer external and flow internal coating are made of SAWL 485 FD steel and are specified for pressure of up to 220 atmospheres. OMK will produce a half of pipes for the project using own wide steel sheets produced at Vyksa Steel Works from Russian steels slabs, supplied by NLMK Group according to the multiyear contract.

"We begin executing the largest contract in OMK history according to its conditions. It confirms our capabilities to produce pipes under the strictest international standards. Using our previous experience of supplies, we have reconstructed the production, improved technologies, and, this is the most important thing, we localized production chain of 50% of pipes in Russia for this international project. It will help us to complete the order for the new project in highest possible quality and in time. I would like to thank all OMK employees. Their dedicated work helped to start this pipeline project that is important for Europe and Russia”, said OMK President Vladimir Markin.

“We have co-operated with OMK already for many years in the past during Nord Stream, and are very pleased that the company was again among one of the successful bidders for the pipe supply to Nord Stream 2. We are confident that OMK and its employees are well- prepared for this challenging order and will meet the requirements set in the contract, signed a few months ago”, said Nord Stream 2 Chief Project Officer Henning Kothe.

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According to the results of an international tender, Vyksa Steel Works will produce more than 730 km of pipes for the two lines of the Nord Stream 2, each of which has a length of approximately 1,200 km. This is the single largest pipe contract in OMK’s history. In 2008-2011, the plant has produced and supplied more than 500 km of pipes for two lines of the Nord Stream project. Then OMK was the first and only Russian company that was selected to take part in the project.

OMK used wide steel sheets exclusively made in the European Union for Nord Stream, but now a half of pipes to be produced by OMK for the Nord Stream 2 are going to be manufactured from wide sheets Thick-Plate Mill 5000 at Vyksa Steel Works. During the preparation for the Nord Stream project, OMK has become the first and only Russian pipe producer to be certified according DNV-OS-F101 standard, which is the worldwide standard for oil and gas pipelines laying on the continental shelves and dictates higher requirements to the quality of the pipes. Meeting these requirements ensures high operational reliability for the offshore pipeline systems.