4 September 2012
Khartsyzsk Pipe (HRTR UK) produced 5.5 kt of large diameter pipes, which is 2.8x lower mom. The company’s pipe production in 8M12 decreased 26% yoy to 294 kt.
Roman Topolyuk: Khartsyzsk Pipe continues to experience sharp volatility in capacity load since it is only in the process of signing new large contracts, and is presumably supplying pipes via sporadic orders from Ukrainian customers. September might bring larger production numbers for the enterprise, since according to Metal Courier, Azovstal (AZST UK) planned to supply 35 kt of strip (flat rolled semi product) to Khartsyzsk Pipe in August, which might indicate that the latter has had some success in finding larger clients. We maintain our production forecast of 400 kt in 2012 unchanged so far.