TAGANROG, Rostov Region — TMK Group said Friday that it might have overtaken Luxembourg-based Tenaris to become the world's biggest producer of pipes last year.
"Considering the market decline in 2009, we may have overtaken Tenaris in terms of output," owner and chairman Dmitry Pumpyansky said. "In terms of earnings, we are still smaller because we have less value-added products."
TMK said Jan. 19 that it shipped 2.8 million tons of pipes in 2009, after earlier saying it sold 1.92 million tons in the first nine months. Tenaris, yet to post annual sales, said Nov. 5 that it sold 2 million tons in the first nine months.
TMK, which pledged to spend about $1.1 billion on plants between 2009 and 2012 to become the world's biggest producer, has $500 million left to invest, Pumpyansky said by phone from Taganrog, where he joined a visit to a local plant by President Dmitry Medvedev.
The company will boost capacity for seamless pipes to 3.4 million tons and large-diameter pipes to 1.2 million tons, TMK said in a presentation to Medvedev. It plans to raise pipe-making capacity to 7 million tons by 2012.
The pipe maker "isn't afraid" of competition from Chinese producers in Russian and North American markets, Pumpyansky said. TMK plans to compete with other pipe makers by increasing its share of so-called value-added goods, he said.
Tenaris spokeswoman Stefania Argento in Milan did not pick up calls to her telephone out of regular office hours.