TMK sales volume in H1 2009 decreased by 20% and amounted to 1,196,000 tonnes due to the weak market demand observed in the Q1 and Q2 of the year. While sales volumes of Russian plants decreased by 27%YoY, the Russian pipe market declined by approximately 35%YoY in the H1 of 2009 as compared to H1 2008.
| | H1'09 | H1'08 | Change |
| Seamless pipes | 760 | 989 | -23% |
| Russia | 541 | 686 | -21% |
| Outside Russia | 219 | 303 | -28% |
| Welded pipes | 435 | 513 | -15% |
| Russia | 273 | 378 | -28% |
| Outside Russia | 162 | 135 | 20% |
| Total pipes | 1,195 | 1,502 | -20% |
| Russia | 814 | 1,064 | -23% |
| Outside Russia | 381 | 438 | -13% |
(In ‘000 tonnes)
Sales of pipes produced at TMK plants in Russia and Kazakhstan decreased by 27% and amounted to 100,700 tonnes. Sales volumes of TMK IPSCO amounted to 133,000 tonnes, representing a significant decrease following a record 2008 performance, when TMK IPSCO sold 441,000 tonnes of steel pipes in the second half of the year.
TMK Europe sales decreased by 34% and amounted to 55,000 tonnes due to the demand contraction for seamless industrial pipes.
TMK seamless pipe sales decrease by 23% in January to June 2009 as compared to January to June 2008 primarily as a result of a sharp decline in the demand for industrial type products. At the same time, sales volumes for seamless OCTG decreased only by 2%. The demand resilience observed in OCTG allowed TMK to increase its Russian oil and gas pipe market share. The Company estimates its seamless OCTG market share in Russia at 71% in the first half of 2009.
In the first six months of 2009, TMK welded pipe sales amounted to 435,000 tonnes, representing a 15% decline compared to the first six months of 2008. Although demand for pipe products started to revive in the second quarter, it was not enough to offset the severe first quarter drop in demand for pipes used in the machine building, automotive, construction and power generation industries. In the second quarter, TMK significantly increased sales of longitudinal welded large-diameter pipes as the Company secured supply agreements for a series of Gazprom, Transneft and Turkmenistan projects.