Pipes of perfection Pipelife

PIPES OF PERFECTION

Pipelife, one of the world’s leading suppliers of plastic pipe systems and plastic fittings, is enjoying a period of growth. Emma-Jane Batey spoke to Pipelife Norway’s export manager Trygve Blomster to find out more.

Established in 1989 and with its global headquarters in Vienna, Pipelife is one of the world’s leading manufacturers and suppliers of plastic pipe systems and fittings. Employing nearly 2700 people across its 27 sites in 27 countries, Pipelife is an international group of companies that is fully owned by Wienerberger from Austria, the world’s largest brick producer, which itself is listed on the Vienna stock exchange. Although Pipelife is not a listed company, its results are shown through its owner, with its turnover in 2011 reported as more than €800 million.

Pipelife’s activities in Norway actually reach back more than 50 years, with the plastic pipe production company that is now part of the group playing a leading role in Norway under a different ownership. Today, Pipelife is the largest producer and supplier of pipe systems in plastic across the Nordic region, and its products are synonymous with quality, performance and innovation.

Pipelife Norway’s export manager Mr Trygve Blomster told Industry Europe more about how the Norwegian activities fit into the group structure as a whole. He said, “Norway is one of the countries where Pipelife has two production facilities, both of which are strategically located to be able to deliver the best possible quality and service to our customers. Owing to our excellent location on the shore line of a sheltered fjord, our PE pipes can be manufactured straight into the sea as we are right on the shoreline, which gives us incredible benefits in terms of logistics and production practicalities. In fact, on our website there is a video and a presentation showing the delivery of a huge pipe from our facilities, and this perfectly highlights how we use our location to its best advantage.”

All types of pipes

A key supplier of innovative products for plumbing, water, gas energy and power distribution, telecoms and industrial sectors, Pipelife manufactures pipes for both above and below

ground. The two Norwegian plants each have a technical speciality.

Large PE pipes in long lengths are produced at the Stathelle plant, and PVC and polypropylene pipes and parts are manufactured in Surnadal. The company also operates sales and support offices in the cities of Oslo, Bergen and Trondheim. Mr Blomster continued, “Our Norwegian headquarters are also in Surnadal – it’s just 130km west of Trondheim in central Norway. Here we manufacture all the pipe systems for our domestic market using two different raw materials: UPVC and polypropylene. The pipes are also produced for all water and wastewater pipes for the whole region, with these two applications being very important for the company. They are used for applications such as electrical conduits, water, sewage and wastewater pipes for kitchens and bathrooms, and various types of agricultural pipe systems. So you can see that there is a common thread of skill and expertise that runs throughout our product range, and we use this considerable know-how to guarantee that our plastic pipes and plastic parts are of the very highest quality.”

The Stathelle plant is located 160km south west of Oslo and this facility is dedicated to polyethylene piping, which is a specialised process in that it involves the manufacture of extremely large pipes in very long sections, with continuously extruded pipes available up to 600 metres long. More

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than 50 per cent of the production from the Stathelle plant is exported to sales markets across the world.

Global delivery

Mr Blomster added, “Our export reach is pretty impressive and we are a truly global business. Our major markets are in Europe and across the Mediterranean region, with Sweden, Spain, Israel and North Africa all performing particularly well. As we mainly provide pipes for marine applications, we supply many customers on the Atlantic side of Africa, South America and across the Middle East and South East Asia.”

It is the marine applications that can truly take advantage of the long continuously extruded Pipelife pipes, which are regularly produced in lengths of 500–600 metres and in outside dimensions of up to and including 2.5 metres wide. Mr Blomster pointed out, “That’s pretty big stuff! We are the first and only production line in the world that is capable of producing such large continuously extruded pipes. With the unique location allowing us to extrude the pipes directly into the sea there is nothing else like it in the world. It’s a beautiful location too – a protected industrial area right on a fjord. Our logistical set-up makes it easy for us to deliver these massive pipes in five to 10km in each shipment to customers by sea too and as we’re certainly competitive in terms of price, we are justifiably proud of our excellent offer.”

Pipelife expects to continue on its positive trend through 2012 and beyond by maintaining its strong performance in the marine sector and utilising the growing trend for large pipes in the desalination and power generation market worldwide, which is particularly strong in the Mediterranean region where Pipelife is already prominent.

Mr Blomster concluded, “Norway has continued to perform well while most of Europe has suffered with the economic crisis, probably because we have our own oil and gas and other energy sources, which is beneficial for Pipelife and our range of products. We expect strong growth in the coming years as we make the most of the expansion in power generation, desalination and traditional sewer outfall businesses, and we will also look to grow in developing countries in Africa and South America.” n