Six Turkish pipe makers qualified for TANAP bid

ANKARA – Anadolu Agency

Turkish steelmakers cheerfully welcomed the invitation of six local manufacturers to the steel pipe tender for the TANAP pipeline that will carry Azeri gas to Europe via Turkey.

A total of 18 companies have been called to place their bid for the tender for the main pipelines of the project, as they were found eligible after a pre-qualification stage.

The construction of the 1,850 km long TANAP is planned to be started in 2015 and to be completed in 2018 in three stages. The pipeline will then be connected to the Trans-Adriatic Pipeline (TAP).

Turkish companies Borusan Mannesmann, Noksel Çelik, Emek Boru, Tosçelik, Ümran Çelik and a consortium of Erciyas Çelik Boru will compete with their international rivals to win the billion dollar contract during the tender.

The tender notices for the pre-qualification stage of the TANAP were announced last August.

Turkish steel pipe producers had concerns about the possibility of their exclusion from the project, which would make some $2.5-3 billion loss for the sector.

Manufacturers feared that a steel pipe type, which is not made in Turkey, may be put on the project’s tender specifications.

Crude steel production in Turkey declined 3.4 percent after a tough year for local manufacturers that were hit hard by an anti-dumping investigation in the top U.S. market.