Sumitomo Metal Industries Ltd and Sumitomo Corp. have won a contract from Nord Stream AG to supply large diameter welded (UOE) line pipes, coated on the inner and outer walls, for the Nord Stream Project, an offshore natural gas pipeline project that links Russia and the European Union via the Baltic Sea. The project is to lay two offshore pipelines (each being approximately 1220km in length) on the seabed of the Baltic Sea. Sumitomo’s pipes will be used for its second line, the Line 2. Nord Stream AG is an international joint venture company established for the planning, construction and subsequent operation of the Nord Stream Pipeline. Russia-based OAO Gazprom holds a 51% stake of the joint venture. Germany-based companies, BASF/Wintershall Holding AG and E.ON Ruhrgas AG, hold 20% each, and a Netherlands-based gas infrastructure company, N.V. Nederlandse Gasunie, has a 9% stake.
