"Strategic partnership means coordinating joint long-term activities in developing and phasing in advanced technology and equipment made by SMS Group for the production of seamless steel pipes at TMK facilities," the company said in a news release.
TMK said the agreement was part of a strategy to phase in the latest technology and expand the output of high-tech products. The German group supplies equipment under more than 50% of projects that are part of the strategy.
In 2006, the companies signed a contract for the supply of equipment to produce 600,000 metric tons of pipes a year for the oil sector, where TMK plans to increase its share of services. The production is slated to start in the first half of 2008.
Established in 2001, TMK accounts for 42% of Russia's steel pipe output. It supplies products to more than 60 countries, with clients including oil majors Royal Dutch Shell and Total, and Spanish energy company Repsol.
Domestically the company produces pipes for the natural gas monopoly Gazprom [RTS: GAZP], crude producers Rosneft [RTS: ROSN], TNK-BP [RTS: TNBP], Lukoil [RTS: LKOH], Gazprom Neft [RTS: SIBN], and others.
In addition to the oil and gas sectors, TMK supplies pipes to the chemical and petrochemical, machine-building, power and construction industries.
