Russia-based TMK, one of the world's leading oil and gas steel pipe producers, has announced its production results for the fourth quarter and full year of 2012.
For the fourth quarter of 2012, TMK shipped 1.072 million mt of steel pipes to customers, representing a 2.9 percent increase compared to the previous quarter. TMK shipped a total of 4.218 million mt of steel pipes to customers in 2012, almost unchanged compared to the previous year. In the last quarter of 2012, TMK's oil country tubular good (OCTG) shipment volumes increased by 6.1 percent quarter on quarter, while the full year shipment volumes registered 9.5 percent growth compared to the previous year.
In 2012, TMK's large diameter pipe shipments fell by 30.7 percent year on year. Higher decline figures for the previous quarters of 2012 were offset by a 14.6 percent quarter-on-quarter increase in large diameter pipe shipments in the fourth quarter of 2012 driven by TMK's involvement, among other projects, in supplies for the construction of the Russian onshore section of the South Stream pipeline In 2012, TMK shipped about 613,000 premium connections, up 29.9 percent compared to 2011.