Kazakhstani railway rails “charted the way” to Russia

The first plant of long (120 m) railroad rails in the Eurasian Economic Union has agreed to supply railroad products to the Russian market.

The Kazakh manufacturer of rail and structural products LLP Aktobe Rail and Beam Plant (ARBP), within the framework of the concluded agreement, by the end of this year, will organize the supply of 50,000 tons of rails for JSC Russian Railways (RRW).

According to the agreement, ARBP will export 100 and 25 meters long railway rails of the P65 type of the DT350 category, intended for use in the repair work of the railway tracks of the Russian Federation. Today the first batch of rails in the amount of 900 tons has been shipped to the Russian Federation.

Recall that Russian Railways is one of the three largest railway companies in the world, with a total length of 85.6 thousand kilometers of railways.

The construction of the ARBP began in April 2013. The total cost of the project amounted to 82.7 billion tenge, up to 70% of the required financing was provided by a subsidiary of the Baiterek holding - Development Bank of Kazakhstan JSC (DBK), which financed the project within the framework of the State program for accelerated industrial and innovative development of the Republic of Kazakhstan for 2010-2014 for a period of 10 to 20 years. DBK also accompanied the project at all stages of construction: from design to launch. For the purchase of modern European equipment from Siemens S.p.A. DBK provided a tied loan in the amount of 47.7 million euros, and a loan in the amount of 66.8 billion tenge was also provided for the implementation of the project. SB Sberbank of Russia JSC was also involved as a co-financing bank.

Now ARBP is one of the leading manufacturers of long heat-strengthened rails up to 120 meters long in the EAEU with a design capacity of 200 thousand tons of rails and 230 thousand tons of structural shapes. The factory with an area of ​​78.9 hectares employs more than 800 workers. The plant produces rails for the construction of general railways and high-speed lines. Its products are certified according to the national standards of Kazakhstan, Ukraine, Russia and Europe.

Since 2016, over 400 thousand tons of ARBP products have been used during the construction and repair of Kazakhstan's railways, which is similar to about 3 thousand kilometers. The plant's rails are also used in Russia, Ukraine, Estonia, Latvia, Belarus, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Georgia, Turkmenistan, Afghanistan and Turkey.

Rails for Russian railways were rolled from billets produced by Oskol Electrometallurgical Plant JSC, which is part of one of the largest mining and metallurgical holdings in the Russian Federation - Metalloinvest, which is a strategic partner of ARBP.

It should be noted that at the present time the Aktobe Rail and Beam Plant is working on the export of railway rails to European markets; in November last year, a certificate was received from TÜV Rheinland for the production of European-type 60E1 railroad rails according to the EN 13674-1: 2017 standard. This type of rail is used in the countries of the European Union, the Baltic states, as well as in the Middle East and North Africa. Obtaining the certificate will expand the geography of sales of Kazakhstan's rail and structural products. 60E1 rails differ from the usual for Kazakhstan P65 in technical parameters: rail height, neck height and thickness, head width.

Also, ARBP mastered the production of railway rails of the P65 category of category 1, issued according to DSTU 4344: 2004. As a result of these works, a certificate of conformity was obtained in March of this year, the presence of which is a prerequisite for the sale of rail products in Ukraine. These measures are aimed at increasing the export potential of both the enterprise and Kazakhstan.

Aktobe Rail and Beam Plant LLP is ready for commercial production of new products.