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TMK confirms its position as a global top-4 steelmaker at the steelChallenge World Championship

TMK came fourth in the online steelChallenge-16 World Championship, held annually by the World Steel Association.

Timur Gaisin, a steelmaking facility foreman at TMK’s Volzhsky Pipe Plant (VTZ), was named among the finalists of the 16th world championship. At the end of 2021, he won a regional championship, finishing first in the Europe and Africa category.

At the world championship, he competed in the Industry category with participants representing major steel companies from Brazil, India, China, and South Korea. The contestants were tasked with modeling the process of producing steel of a given grade using online simulators of secondary steelmaking and continuous casting on the steelUniversity portal. This year, additional environmental footprint requirements were introduced for the steel grade: the carbon dioxide emissions from the process had to be minimized.

Elena Pozolotina, TMK’s Vice President for Human Resources – Director of TMK2U Corporate University, said: “TMK employees’ participation in national and world championships is a sign of quality that proves the high qualifications of the Company specialists. As for participating employees themselves, these competitions provide an opportunity to test their abilities, hone skills, broaden professional horizons, and establish new contacts. We have historically shown strong performance at the steelmaking championship: in the semi-finals, TMK’s steelmakers took the first four places in the Top 5. Every year, more and more employees take part in the company-wide qualifying round organized by TMK2U Corporate University, and we also engage partner universities. We are confident that our efforts will have a tangible effect, helping to raise the profile of blue-collar occupations and improve hard skills in general.”

The steelChallenge championship has been held annually since 2005. Participants compete in two categories – students and industry – across five regional groups (the Americas, Asia – East and Oceania, Asia – North, Asia – West, and Europe and Africa). Russian metallurgists compete in the Europe and Africa group. In 2021, Alexander Nesmeev from TMK’s Seversky Pipe Plant (STZ) took the fourth place in the world championship final.