TMK, one of the world’s largest oil and gas pipe producers and the market leader of the Russian pipe industry, announces that it shipped 315 thousand tonnes of pipe products in October 2008, representing a 25.5% increase over October 2007 shipments.  This increase in shipment volumes is attributable to capacity growth brought on by the consolidation of production assets in the USA and Kazakhstan in mid-2008. TMK October shipments also represented a 4.3% increase over September 2008.

At the same time, TMK strengthened its market position in Russia.  Despite weaker demand in the utilities, construction and machine-building sectors, TMK’s share of total pipe shipments from Russian mills increased from 31.6% in September to 34.9% in October, thanks to the Company’s dominant position in its core oil and gas pipe segment.