Kremenchuk Steel Casting gets certificate reinstated with limits

Kremenchuk Steel Casting (KSC), the largest bogie castings producer in the CIS, got its quality certificate reinstated by Russian Federation authorities on April 5 and is ready to restart supplying domestic freight railcar producers, Interfax reported on April 9, citing a source in the company. The reinstated certificate limits the company’s total side-frame production to a trial series of 20,000 units (enough to produce 5,000 railcars). KSC’s quality certificate was suspended by Russia’s industry watchdog on Nov. 27, 2012.

Roman Dmytrenko: KSC’s certificate resumption and subsequent production restart is positive for local freight railcar producers Kryukiv Railcar (KVBZ UK) and Dniprovahonmash (DNVM UK), which are totally dependent on KSC for its bogie casting parts, as well as the Russian market for its customers. At the same time, considering that Kryukiv Railcar alone usually consumes up to 4,000 side frames per month, the 20,000-unit limit indicates the bogie castings deficit in Ukraine is far from over.

Moreover, the quality certificate issued for the limited series does not mean the issue with bogie castings is resolved. So far, it looks more like a quota imposed by the Russian government on imported Ukrainian freight railcars.