March 2014 TUBE PRODUCTS INTERNATIONAL
81
7-11 April 2014
Europipe GmbH
Germany
4H42
Europipe GmbH has signed a contract
with South Stream Transport BV for the
supply of steel pipes for the construction
of the South Stream Offshore Pipeline.
Europipe will produce over 600km for
the first string of a total of 931km. The
route of the 813mm (32") OD offshore
gas pipeline runs through the Black Sea
in depths of up to 2,200m, from Anapa
in Russia to Varna in Bulgaria.
Europipe’s order includes 450,000
tonnes of pipe in accordance to DNV
Offshore Standard DNV-OS-F101,
Submarine Pipeline Systems 2010.
The challenge is the high requirement
concerning geometry (roundness).
A good collapse resistance is
indispensable for the security of the
pipeline and the environment at external
pressure of greater than 200 bar in
2,200m pipe laying depth. Almost all of
the pipes will receive an internal lining
with epoxy and an outside coating with
polypropylene.
The order includes pipe manufacturing,
pipe coating, procurement of pipe
bends, buckle arrestors and the concrete
weight coating of a part of the pipes, as
well as the transport to Bulgaria.
Europipe will produce all 450,000 tonnes
at its large-diameter pipe mill in Mülheim,
Ruhr, Germany. The steel plates needed
for the pipe production will be supplied
by Europipe’s shareholders, AG der
Dillinger Hüttenwerke and Salzgitter
Mannesmann GmbH.
Under consideration of a tight delivery
schedule, the two-shift production will
take a large share of Europipe’s capacity
for a period of more than 12 months,
beginning in April. The contract includes
135 pipe bends, which Europipe will order
from Salzgitter’s subsidiary, Salzgitter
Mannesmann Grobblech GmbH.
Orders for the supply of concrete weight
coating of 148km pipe and 429 buckle
arrestors (pipes that prevent buckling
of the pipeline during pipe laying) will
be awarded to subcontractors. The
South Stream Pipeline System consists
of one offshore and several onshore
sections. The natural gas pipeline, which
will link Russia and the European Union
via the Black Sea, will start commercial
operation by the end of 2015 with an
annual capacity of around 15.75 billion
cubic metres. Full capacity of around
63 billion cubic metres per annum will
be achieved in late 2017 with three
additional parallel pipelines.
GERO
Germany
4H28
In Italy in 1977, large quantities of
seamless steel tubes seemed to be
unsalable. The owner of GERO
Gelsenkirchener Rohrhandels bought
the stock to sell in Germany, and was
quickly able to sell more than 2,000t.
That was the start of GERO in steel
tube trading, and the company is now
an internationally recognised specialist
for seamless steel tubes. GERO was
convinced from the beginning that
marketing seamless steel tubes would
