26 February 2016 – EVRAZ has signed a contract to supply rails to a major South American railway operator. The company will ship over 23 thousand tonnes of EVRAZ ZSMK head-hardened rails to RUMO ALL in 2016 and 2017. The first lot – 5 thousand tonnes – is planned to be shipped in March.
In February RUMO ALL representatives including the Head of the engineering department, Mr. Leonardo Soares, visited EVRAZ ZSMK to inspect the facility and evaluated high quality of rails.
RUMO ALL is a new railway company, created by merger of RUMO LOGISTICA and ALL. The operator owns more than 10 thousand kilometers of track in Brazil, several ports with aggregate capacity of 19 million tonnes, 996 locomotives and 28 thousand of railcars. The company is intensively developing and expanding its business. For its new railway projects RUMO ALL intends to use EVRAZ's products.
EVRAZ Launches Production of Two Railway Wheel Types for European Market
25 January 2016 – The European certifying authority for railways, VUZ (the Czech Republic) issued two TSI conformity certificates to EVRAZ NTMK, for solid-rolled 920 mm railway wheels of BA 314 and ВА 005 types. Both wheel types, intended for freight cars, are among the bestsellers in the European markets.
Specially for these wheels, EVRAZ NTMK’s steel-shop produces high-quality steel of the ER7 grade.
During the pre-certification audit, the plant proved efficiency of its quality management system and its conformity to the TSI requirements. The board of experts appreciated the high level of automation in production processes and approved the system of logging and archiving a set of parameters for each wheel produced. Prior to certification, the wheels successfully passed the cyclic and thermo-mechanical tests in an accredited Czech laboratory.
«EVRAZ’s objective is to expand its product portfolio with product types that are most popular in the company’s strategic markets and key product segments,” says Ilya Shirokobrod, EVRAZ Vice-President, Sales. “In 2016, EVRAZ NTMK is planning to launch production of new freight wheels for North American markets, including those with increased rim hardness, and two more European-standard wheel types for freight cars.”
Today, EVRAZ NTMK holds five TSI certificates. The earlier certified wheel types ВА 318, ВА 319, and ВА 004 are also intended for freight cars.
EVRAZ To Expand Railroad Wheel Exports
24 September 2015 – EVRAZ continues launching new railroad wheel designs into production and having them certified for exports, while expanding its sales geography. This summer, the company started deliveries of wheel semis to Europe and entered the Czech market. Sweden and Austria are the next short-term targets.
EVRAZ is now present in all segments of the European railroad wheels market, from wheel semis to rough-finish and full-finish wheels for freight cars. EVRAZ NTMK shipped the first batch of NLZ 430 wheel semis to Germany this summer. A trial batch will shortly be delivered to the Czech Republic.
At the same time, EVRAZ is engaged in having three freight car wheel designs certified for the European market. Once completed, the certification will enable the company to deliver wheel types that currently take up to 70% of the European market. Also, in Q4 2015, EVRAZ NTMK will ship a firstever batch of coated freight car wheels to Turkey.
«Expanding the geography and the product mix of our European deliveries is aligned with our overall strategy for ramping up the exports of railroad products. We see a big potential in the region and are ready to export up to 50,000 tonnes a year," says Ilya Shirokobrod, Vice-President, Sales, EVRAZ. "We are also expanding the scope with our US partners. In the short term, we plan to launch into production a new freight car wheel design for the US market, while working on new high-strength steel grades».
EVRAZ has now completed certification of the A-43 locomotive wheel, one of the most wide-spread wheel types in the US, Canada and Mexico. The wheels successfully passed the tests, and the Association of American Railroads (AAR) issued a permit to EVRAZ NTMK to deliver 8,000 wheels. A trial batch has now been shipped, with the serial production scheduled to start this October. The first commercial batch will be shipped by the end of the year.
EVRAZ signs long-term rail delivery contract with Moscow Metro
2 September 2015 – EVRAZ signed a five-year rail delivery contract with the Moscow Metro. The contract contains a pricing formula and determines the volume of deliveries; it will come effective this September. Over the five years, EVRAZ will supply 60 thousand tonnes of rails, fully covering the metro’s needs and remaining its key supplier.
Within the contract’s scope, EVRAZ will produce contact rails, track switches and increased durability head-hardened rails, including 100 meters long. In January, the new long rails were laid into an underground track for the first time, now enabling the Moscow Metro to improve its track maintenance efficiency.
“Thanks to the joint efforts of the Moscow’s government Department of transportation and Moscow Metro, the country’s capital key transportation artery is actively developing, continuously improving on the passenger service. Realizing the intensity of traffic and the paramount safety requirements, we are offering the innovative rails that can ensure both comfort for the passengers and a lower maintenance volume for our partners,” says Aleksey Ivanov, Vice President, Head of Steel Division, EVRAZ.
“The Moscow transportation system development strategy envisages migrating to the cutting-edge technologies. I am positive that our long-term partnership will help achieve economies and improve the passengers’ comfort,” says Dmitry Pegov, Head of the Moscow Metro.
EVRAZ is the key supplier of rails for the Russian metros. The company has provided rails for the metros of Moscow, Saint-Petersburg, Yekaterinburg, Kazan, Samara, Novosibirsk and Nizhniy Novgorod since they were launched. In 2015, EVRAZ expanded the geography of rail deliveries, supplying rails for the Tashkent metro. For underground transportation networks, the company produces head-hardened rails, contact rails and rails for track switches.
EVRAZ Will Supply Rails to Malaysian Railways
19 May 2015 – EVRAZ will supply 2,000 tonnes of high quality 54 E1 rails for the SkyPark Terminal at the Sultan Abdul Aziz Shah Airport, a gateway to Kuala Lumpur city. The rails will be produced at EVRAZ West-Siberian Steel plant (EVRAZ ZSMK) and will be shipped to Malaysia by the end of the third quarter of 2015.
EVRAZ ZSMK successfully passed qualification tests with Malaysian Railways (Keretapi Tanah Melayu Berhad, KTMB) in April 2015. KTMB is the biggest railway infrastructure operator in Malaysia. In March, representatives of KTMB visited Novokuznetsk, Russia, where they audited production sites and assessed rail-rolling and rail-hardening technologies. The KTMB team also visited the sample testing laboratory and quality control service. The positive results of the audit were attested by a special certificate that allows EVRAZ ZSMK to supply rails to Malaysia.
"EVRAZ is committed to continuously improving the quality of its railway products, and high opinion of a new customer is proof that we are moving in the right direction," says Ilya Shirokobrod, EVRAZ Vice President, Sales. "We are glad to have passed our first certification in Asia and to start partnership with Malaysian clients. Asia, and Malaysia in particular, is one of target export markets for EVRAZ. We are planning to further develop sales in the region as we see significant growth in demand for railway products due to development of urban transport and new railway lines.”
EVRAZ is ready to deliver to its Malaysian partners all types of rails for heavy-haul, public, urban and high-speed traffic. The market of Southeast Asia is a priority for EVRAZ. Apart from Malaysia, EVRAZ envisages deliveries to Indonesia, Thailand, Singapore, Taiwan and Vietnam.
EVRAZ Starts Railroad Wheel Deliveries To Turkey
2 March 2015 – EVRAZ NTMK completed production of a batch of wheels for freight railcars under the contract with the Turkish State Railways (TCDD). Two thousand wheels of the newly launched BA 002 type (920 mm in diameter, made of the ER7 steel grade) will be shipped by the end of March.
Representatives of the Turkish State Railways audited the wheels for correctness of their geometry and the mechanical properties. The tests proved full compliance with the customer’s specifications. The clients confirmed their satisfaction with the quality of wheels and expressed interest to work with EVRAZ in the future.
EVRAZ NTMK produced the batch of BA 002 wheels for the first time. Their key feature is highprecision boring of the wheel’s hub. This means that the tolerance for the wheel hub bore is measured in hundredths of millimeter. The experience gained while launching the new product will be used for developing other wheel designs.
“Production of the new wheel type is quite difficult technologically, but our engineers were able to launch it in just four months. We keep expanding our product portfolio and broadening the geography of our sales,” said Ilya Shirokobrod, EVRAZ Vice-President, Sales. “The annual demand capacity for wheels in Turkey exceeds 25 thousand pieces, and we consider the country among our high-potential customers.”
Expanding product portfolio is a priority for EVRAZ. In 2014, EVRAZ NTMK significantly expanded the geography of its railcar wheels sales. They were sold domestically and exported to the CIS, the Baltic states, Europe and the USA with the total count reaching 65 thousand pieces. In 2015, EVRAZ shipped first batches of BA 004 and BA 018 wheels to Germany.
EVRAZ Will Ship Rails To Cuba
18 February 2015 – EVRAZ ZSMK has produced 4,500 tonnes of 25 and 12-meter R50-N rails which will be shipped to Cuba until the end of February under a contract with Empresa Proveedora General del Transporte (General Transport Procurement Company) (TRADEX). The rails will be used for modernisation of the existing access railroads in accordance with a programme by the government of Cuba.
EVRAZ signed contract with TRADEX in December 2014. In February 2015, the customer visited Novokuznetsk to inspect the production process at EVRAZ ZSMK and evaluate the quality of new rails.
"We are impressed by what we have seen at EVRAZ ZSMK, this is state-of-art equipment and high technology. In addition, your company has an extensive experience in rail production. We hope that our cooperation with EVRAZ has a high potential," said Ledisvan Morales, Deputy Director, Cuban railway infrastructure.
"We are happy to establish cooperation with the esteemed Cuban counterpart. Cuba has a high potential to develop railway communication network and its government has already set off on the road to upgrade the existing infrastructure,” added Ilya Shirokobrod, EVRAZ Vice President, Sales. “EVRAZ rails have already proven reliability in hot and humid climate. Considering that this lot is made on a cutting edge mill we believe that our partner will be completely satisfied with the quality of our rails."
EVRAZ rails have a wide geography. The company supplies annually up to 40 thousand tonnes of rails to extremely hot climatic areas: California and Nevada in the USA, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan in Central Asia. Uzbekistan is one of the company's key customers in the CIS. EVRAZ has recently extended the scope of cooperation with this country: earlier this year EVRAZ supplied about one thousand tonnes of rails to Tashkent metro.
EVRAZ To Supply Rails To Brazil
29 January 2015 – EVRAZ signed two contracts to supply rails to Brazil. For the first time thecompany will ship to Latin America rails produced at its West-Siberian Steel Plant (EVRAZ ZSMK).EVRAZ ZSMK will ship to TIISA Construction Company four thousand tonnes of 60E1-compliant rails.
Head-hardened, with improved wear- and contact fatigue resistance, these rails will be laid into a 30-kilometers' track to connect the largest Latin American pulp mill to the network of Brazil's key railway operator, ALL (Latin American Logistics).
The other contract, for three hundred tonnes of head-hardened 60E2 rails, was signed with BR RAILPARTS. This lot will be utilised to fit out the turnout switches in a new railway constructed by the Brazilian Government.
EVRAZ scheduled first rail shipments to its Brazilian customers for February, 2015. In the end of January, the representatives of Latin American companies visited EVRAZ ZSMK to audit production and verify product quality.
"EVRAZ ZSMK Rail Mill follows the best international practices. We inspected the finished rails and verified compliance with the declared specifications, – noted Joubert Lansoni da Silva, advisor to ALL. – We intend to continue our cooperation with EVRAZ. Railway construction is growing rapidly in Latin America but there is no local manufacturer in the region. EVRAZ is a great choice for us: the company is able to offer the needed volumes and products at a reasonable price".
"It is our strategy to extend the geography of EVRAZ railway products, – says Ilya Shirokobrod, EVRAZ Vice President, Sales. – Entering the Brazilian market is an unquestioned success and we intend to build on that to gain access to other markets in Latin America. The agreement we signed with a top Brazilian trading company, Cisa Trading, was a major step forward to reinforce EVRAZ's standing in the region. Cisa Trading will support our sales in Latin America and provide logistics and technical support to customers."
EVRAZ has an annual rail production capacity of two million tonnes. The company is the leader in Russia, CIS and North America and is currently working on expanding its exports. Apart from Latin America, the Company is eyeing the markets of the Middle East, Southeast Asia and Europe.
EVRAZ Launches Mass Production Of New Rail Types
EVRAZ ZMSK received Compliance Certificates for two new rail types: head-hardened DT350 rails for use in high-speed mixed-traffic railway operations and DT370 rails with higher wear resistance and contact fatigue life, from the Register of Certification on the Federal Railway. The samples of these rail types passed all the required tests both in EVRAZ labs and at the All-Russia Railways’ Research and Development Institute. The tests confirmed all claimed specifications of the new rail products.
Both rail types are produced at the new EVRAZ ZSMK Rail and Beam Shop, involving the innovative head-hardening technology. No comparable rails have been produced in Russia before. New rails are available in lengths from 18 to 100 meters, depending on customer’s needs.
Head-hardened rails DT350 for use in high-speed mixed-traffic railway operations have improved geometry and enhanced linearity, which ensure smooth and low-noise motion of trains. Head-hardening extends service life of rails as well. DT370 rails with higher wear resistance and contact fatigue life can be used in difficult conditions: in curves with a radius as small as 300 to 350 meters, or on inclines, where tracks wear off faster. The tests showed that DT370 rails have a 30 to 40% higher wear resistance than standard rails.
“Getting two new rail types certified is another important step EVRAZ has made in reinforcing its market positions”, says Ilya Shirokobrod, EVRAZ Vice-President, Head of the Railway Products Division. “Launch of DT350 rails for use in high-speed mixed-traffic railway operations will promote import replacement as previously Russian Railways had to buy this class of rail abroad, while DT370 rails with higher wear resistance and contact fatigue will help to ensure safety in parts of track with rugged landscape, which is especially relevant for Russia. Also, both new products have a high export potential.” With certificates in place, EVRAZ ZMSK can start rail deliveries to commercial users. At the same time, the shop team is working on launching new types of rolled goods in production.
