Bloomberg citing Mr Dmitry Pumpyansky billionaire Chairman said OAO TMK, the world largest pipemaker by output, sees solid demand for steel pipes this year driven by high oil prices and shale-gas projects in the US.

Mr Pumpyansky said “In the absence of macroeconomic shocks, we expect solid orders for most of 2012. TMK shipped a record 4.2 million metric tons of pipes last year and expects about the same this year.”

He said that demand for large-diameter pipes in Russia may slow as OAO Gazprom hasn’t yet agreed on building a gas pipeline to China. Gazprom is more likely to start accepting bids for materials for the South Stream or Shtokman projects as early as this year. The decline will be offset by growing demand in the oil industry.

He added that the pipemaker TMK-IPSCO unit in the US where shale gas output has raised demand and accounts for almost 30% of revenue and shipments. TMK is developing more expensive and technologically advanced products, including premium connections for pipes, and expanding into new markets, he said. TMK shipped its pipes to a record 80 countries last year.

(Sourced from Bloomberg)