The Middle East offers a large scope for any company which aims for long-term participance in regional unique projects
After a drop in demand in 2020, which was primarily a case of delays for two or three years, rather than cancellations, we expect that large new projects are ready to be implemented in the following years. Over the last two years, some Russian large diameter pipe production companies were able to build up its network and go through customer qualifications. In fact, they have been successfully undergoing audits at production sites by clients of the Middle East. One of the most noticeable examples is Severstal. Since 2018, the Company has passed 36 qualifications from leading market participants, including ADNOC, EGPC and GASCO. With a serious market history of selling steel pipes to the European, North and South American markets and MENA, Severstal has ambitious plans for work the region. It is already one the major suppliers of LDP to many major oil and gas and EPC companies, such as Gazprom, Eustream and Petrojet.
This became possible, among other things, due to the fact that the company offers unique solutions on the large diameter pipes market including specific products tailored to work under non-standard conditions: LSAW pipes and rolled metal plates for pipe production companies made of steel grades able to prolong the service life of pipelines transporting hydrogen sulfide-containing substances (Severstal already has such experience with a special supply project in Romania), CO2-containing substances. Pipes with high deformation capacity are also worth mentioning, because they ensure the reliability and durability of pipelines, as well as the safety of gas transportation used for the sections of gas transportation in seismically unstable regions.
Up to date, Severstal has successfully completed a number of well-known projects in Europe ?Turkstream? and ?Polish Slovak Gas Interconnector?, and ?Barcarena LNG Terminal? that called for implementing tailored solutions.
For example, For Turkstream, a large volume of 260,000 tonnes of pipes for offshore section has been delivered, where increased requirements for the geometry have been met and a solution to reduce the cost of the project has been implemented.
Also, For the Polish-Slovak Gas Interconnector, more than 11,500 tonnes of large-diameter pipes have been shipped, 1.016 mm in diameter and 18 m in length. The application of 18 m long pipes enables cost reduction for the construction of pipelines and enhances reliability and efficiency. To deliver the pipes to the client, a multimodal transportation logistics has been implemented, including pipes transportation by road, sea, and rail. This approach provides higher flexibility and efficiency of the logistics chain.
In addition, For Barcarena LNG terminal (Port of Vila de Conde, Brazil) a whole range of additional customer requirements were implemented which have been met successfully. The company shipped 508mm diameter pipes with varying length and 12,7 mm wall thickness. The project is very demanding due to very complex engineering decisions, but that what makes it a good experience for us in the future.
This flexibility is possible due to several key things
Firstly, a vertically integrated company (which includes the entire cycle from the extraction of raw materials to the final production) can develop very specific products due to the use of unique engineering solutions at different stages.
Secondly, complex logistics solutions allow not only to create specifically-tailored solutions, but also delivering them on time, and often even exceeding the customer's expectations
Thirdly, the company's extensive experience in providing special solutions for customers allows to confidently take on new challenges on any market while maintaining the highest quality of the products.
Being one of the leaders on a global large diameter pipes market, Severstal extensively evolves its R&D and product development units. Lean and agile approach let it in some cases reach a very ambitious three to six months ?time-to-market? for some products which is considered a serious achievement in the industry. Moreover, this seems to be even more important considering rapid development of hydrogen energetics which require new technology to handle it because of how steel behaves being exposed to pure hydrogen under pressure.
This market is yet to develop, but its potential importance and volume is very perspective. European countries are already very actively developing hydrogen projects and the MENA region is no exception.
By meeting the specific needs of customers and offering cost-effective solutions with on-time deliveries, Severstal is forging new partnerships and helping oil and gas companies implement challenging projects in MENA.
