Dillinger Hütte to supply plate for the first section of the South Stream pipeline

South Stream is an important gas pipeline that will connect Russia to the European Union. The technically and logistically challenging offshore section through the Black Sea requires high-quality pipe and pipe plate. In a maximum water depth of 2,200 meters, the 931-kilometer-long first section runs from Anapa in Russia to Varna, Bulgaria. Up to 16 billion cubic meters of gas is expected to flow each year through this first pipeline. For use in the deep sea, the plate and the pipes made from it must feature special properties, such as high plate thickness (39 mm), for instance, so that the pipe can withstand the enormous external pressure, as well as high homogeneity of mechanical properties throughout the entire supply, in order to ensure the greatest possible safety during operation of the pipeline. Dillinger Hütte has already delivered large volumes of heavy plate for both sections of the North Stream pipeline through the Baltic Sea. The order volume for the offshore section of the first South Stream pipeline amounts to around 750,000 tons. EUROPIPE will provide about 50 % of this amount, and the Russian pipe manufacturer OMK, which is likewise supplied with pipe plate by Dillinger Hütte, will have a share of 35 %. Dr. Karlheinz Blessing, Chief Executive Officer of Dillinger Hütte, said: “This order provides for volumes that we urgently need and, as a result, helps to secure capacity utilisation. This does not solve the structural problems in the German and European steel industry, however. We must therefore continue all of the efforts to effectively lower costs at the Dillingen site while also ensuring the production flexibility required in our project business.”