Gazprom is negotiating a 20% discount with pipe producers.
A source said that the decision had been already made and all pipe producers agreed on the discount. Two sources said that the issue was discussed between Gazprom and pipe producers’ executives on January 16 but no final decision had been made. One more source said that according to the position of Gazprom, the discount must amount to 20% and the decision must be agreed upon until the end of the week.
A source close to one of the pipe producers said that the reason for Gazprom’s intent to change the purchase price was the appearance of a new player, the Zagorsky Pipe Works, on the market in July 2017. The plant offered pipes 13-15% cheaper and promised to cut the price by 20-25%. Gazprom has already ordered 112,000 tons of pipes from the plant, which has a capacity of 500,000 tons a year. (Prime/Ukrainian metal)
