Metallurgical companies, including TMK, initiated a repeated anti-dumping investigation into stainless steel pipes produced at Ukrainian enterprises. Increased duties on these products were introduced back in 2016 and are now proposed to be maintained for another five years. Currently, supplies of pipes from Ukraine are minimal, but market participants fear a restoration of imports if protective measures are abandoned.
The Eurasian Economic Commission (EEC) has launched a repeated anti-dumping investigation into seamless stainless steel pipes originating from Ukraine. The notification of the EEC Internal Market Protection Department was published on the EAEU portal. The application was submitted by structures of Russia’s largest pipe manufacturer TMK and Sverdlovsk LLC Cyberstal, and was supported by the Kazan Pipe Rolling Plant. According to the data provided, these enterprises accounted for 100% of the production of these products in the EAEU in 2023–2025.
An anti-dumping duty on Ukrainian stainless steel pipes ranging from 4.32% to 18.96%, depending on the manufacturer, was introduced in February 2016, and in 2021 extended until September 6, 2026. As noted in 2021 by the EEC, local manufacturers of stainless pipes have sufficient capacity and are able to fully satisfy domestic demand. Based on the results of the launched re-investigation, the protective measure may be maintained for another five years.
As stated in the EEC materials, in 2025, supplies of stainless steel pipes from Ukraine to the EAEU were minimal. But the applicant companies are concerned that if the measure is lifted, dumped imports could resume, harming local producers.
Thus, an analysis of prices for pipes from Ukraine supplied to third countries revealed a dumping margin of 8.5% in 2025, which exceeds the minimum acceptable level. As stated in the materials, the production of stainless pipes in Ukraine is export-oriented and has significant capacity. And due to the introduction of additional duties by the United States on steel products (including Ukrainian ones), factories may have an incentive to redirect products back to the EAEU market, given the geographic proximity and established distribution channels.
The position of the industry in the EAEU remains difficult, as indicated in the materials. According to data provided by the EEC, in 2023–2025, the production of stainless steel pipes decreased by 11%, capacity utilization fell by 28%, sales profit decreased by 28%, and production profitability by 48%. TMK, Cyberstal and the Kazan Pipe Rolling Plant did not answer Kommersant’s questions.
10.2 million tons
amounted to the volume of the Russian pipe market in 2025, according to TMK.
Advisor to the manager of the Industrial Code fund, Maxim Shaposhnikov, notes that if the anti-dumping duty is canceled and then tried to be reintroduced, the investigation will take up to a year. During this time, as domestic manufacturers fear, Ukrainian products – for example, in the event of a change in the geopolitical situation – could seriously undermine the position of local factories, he explains. According to the expert, the duty also insures against re-export: if supplies through third countries are opened, Ukrainian pipes will be able to return to the market without a barrier.
Anton Namenov, senior partner at Pen & Paper, says that repeated investigations after the expiration of anti-dumping measures are a common practice of the EEC. For example, they were carried out in relation to oil and gas field pipes from China, aluminum strip from Azerbaijan and China, galvanized rolled products from China and Ukraine. Based on the results of the investigation, the EEC may extend the measures for a new period, the lawyer added.
Freedom Finance Global analyst Vladimir Chernov notes that today the risks of dumping from China look more significant than from Ukraine. “China has large production capacity, and with weak domestic demand, some production can go to foreign markets at very aggressive prices,” he says. At the end of 2025, the EEC began a repeated anti-dumping investigation against Chinese welded pipes, tubes and stainless steel profiles, on which increased duties were introduced in 2021 (see “Kommersant” dated November 14, 2025).
