GOMEL, 13 June (BelTA) – In May 2014 Belarusian Steel Works (BMZ trademark) shipped nearly 15,200 tonnes of pipes to customers, 120.6% as against 2013. It is the highest figure on record since the company started making pipes, BelTA learned from BMZ Press Secretary Alexander Olesik.

The company needed nearly 200 trucks and over 150 railway cars to transport this amount of pipes. Most of the hot-rolled pipes were exported. At present U.S. companies represent the key foreign trade partners of the Belarusian company. U.S. companies accounted for about 55% of BMZ's export in May or 8,300 tonnes in real terms.

BMZ pipes are shipped to customers in 17 countries, including Italy, Germany, France, Spain, Czechia, Poland, and Lithuania. The Russian Federation is the top customer among the CIS states, with 1,700 tonnes of pipes shipped in May 2014. As for the domestic market, the company made slightly more than 400 tonnes of hot-rolled pipes for Belarusian companies.

Belarusian Steel Works commissioned the pipe manufacturing division in 2007. It is designed to make 250,000 tonnes of hot-rolled seamless pipes per annum with the diameter of 21.3-168.3mm and the wall thickness of 2.3-24mm. The pipes are designed for various applications. The volume accounts for about 1.5% of the global market. In its time the company utilized cutting-edge technologies and equipment made by leading European manufacturers to implement the innovative project.

Founded in 1984, the public joint-stock company OAO Belarusian Steel Works (BMZ trademark) is the managing company of the holding company BMC. The enterprise specializes in cast bars, profiled iron, rolled steel, reinforcing bars, metal cord, wire for high-pressure hoses and other kinds of wire. BMZ exports over 80% of the output. The company employs over 12,000 people.