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Artem Polyakov.
Interpipe railway product sales jump 39% m/m in December. Railway product sales volume at Ukraine’s largest producer Interpipe was 17.1 kt in December, a 39.0% m/m jump, according to the company’s monthly operational report released on Jan. 20. Pipe sales soared 37.2% m/m to 44.1 kt, while external billet sales skyrocketed 5.7x m/m to 4.8 kt. Total sales volume swelled 45.8% m/m to 66.0 kt.
The m/m jump in railway product sales in December was driven by sales of wheels (+54.3% m/m to 15.1 kt), which were partially offset by a drop in wheelset sales (-30.6% m/m to 1.2 kt).
The m/m rally in pipe sales in December was led by a surge in line pipes (+75.0% m/m to 28.3 kt), driven by a recovery of consumption in key markets, MENA and the US, following the rally of steel commodity prices, the report said. An offsetting factor was a 34.1% m/m drop in welded pipe sales to 4.7 kt, driven by an unfavourable market environment across all regions, Interpipe said.
During 2020, Interpipe’s pipe sales dropped 21.0% y/y to 469.9 kt, driven mostly by a 52.2% plunge for OCTG pipes to 83.2 kt and a 28.0% drop for welded pipes to 80.1 kt. Railway product sales slid 5.4% y/y to 192.4 kt in 2020, driven mostly by an 8.5% loss for wheels to 166.4 kt, and partially offset by a 32.0% jump for wheelsets to 19.5 kt.
Ukraine's share of Interpipe’s pipe sales in 2020 dropped 3pp to 22% from 2019, and the share of sales in the Americas plunged 13pp to 11%. At the same time, Europe's share in pipe sales gained 5pp to 29%, and MENA's share rose 9pp to 24%. The share of CIS countries in 2020 climbed 1pp to 11%.
The share of Interpipe’s railway product sales in Ukraine in 2020 dropped 8pp to 14% from 2019, while the share of sales to Europe gained 9pp to 35% and the share of sales to CIS countries slid 2pp to 43%.
Regarding production volumes, which might be indicative of sales volumes in future months, Interpipe’s pipe production inched up 2.5% m/m to 38.4 kt in December, while railway product output jumped 27.6% m/m to 16.5 kt. Steel production gained 11.0% m/m in December to 61.8 kt.
The y/y drop in pipe sales in 2020 were driven by a 1H20 drop in oil prices, according to Interpipe’s Jan. 20 press release on yearly operational results. A bright spot was an increase in the company’s pipe sales in the Middle East to customers in Turkey, the UAE and Qatar, the release said.
Interpipe boosted its railway product sales to Europe by 29% y/y to 67 kt in 2020 by increasing sales of new products in the cargo segment and by entering the passenger segment, in particular, for the high-speed Deutsche Bahn trains, according to Interpipe’s press release.
79 UKRAINE Country Report February 2021 www.intellinews.com
