Interpipe aiming to boost its new markets

Ukraine’s largest pipe producer Interpipe (INPIP) aims to increase the share of its new sales markets – including Latin American countries, Iraq, and Libya – to 30% in three-four years, said on September 22 Kirill Rubinski, the CEO of EastOne, Interpipe’s parent company. Its purpose is to diminish market risks that surfaced after the Customs Union imposed duties on the company’s products in July. Interpipe also risks losing the U.S. market because of an ongoing antidumping investigation against Ukraine and eight other countries.

Roman Topolyuk: Interpipe’s attempt to diversify supplies is a natural move after the company appears to be on the brink of losing its two key markets, the Customs Union and the U.S., together representing 40% of sales. However, opening access to new markets is a time-consuming process. We estimate Interpipe will lose 30% of its yoy sales in 2014 due to the worsening Ukraine-Russian trade relations and existing Customs Union duties of 18.9-37.8%.