UPRUC-CTR, manufacturer of welding fittings and steel pressure vessels for the oil&gas and thermal industry, recorded a 27% increase in turnover in 2022 to 11.7 million euros (58 million lei), the company announced.
UPRUC-CTR started in 2022 the procedures for the authorization as a supplier for nuclear power plants, as there is a major interest for investments in this area, both in Western Europe and at the local level.
The company entered a new stage by co-opting a new CEO into the team. Thus, the presence of Cristian Căruceriu, CEO of UPRUC-CTR, a manager with over 15 years of experience in multinational companies in the automotive field, contributed to the increase in production despite the challenges with the availability of raw materials, global macro problems in the metal market and lack of staff specialized in the field of production at the level of the entire Romanian economy.
“Through the involvement of the top management and the team’s specialists, we were able to increase production despite the challenges in the labor market that were generalized at the level of the large producers in Romania. The deficient jobs are still those of chippers, welders and pressers and I am glad that by initiating the UPRUC-CTR School project we are developing a work culture around these jobs,” said Horia Alexander Enciu, president of the UPRUC-CTR Board of Directors TO.
UPRUC-CTR has two production divisions: welding fittings and pressure vessels of carbon, alloy and stainless steel.
“I anticipate that in 2023 we will see new large investments in the areas where steel fittings are used: refineries, the petrochemical industry, thermal power plants, gas compression stations. Our optimism comes after more investments were on hold in 2021, end customers watched prices rise and waited for the market to calm down. Then the invasion from Ukraine began and the market was focused on the ‘buy-quick, because you don’t know what’s coming’ principle! The end of 2022, however, brought more orders that were not induced by any kind of fear,” says Horia Alexander Enciu.
UPRUC-CTR SA has Germany as its main export market and the company estimates that the demand for fittings and pressure vessels will increase in 2023 in the current international geopolitical context and due to energy investments.
The year 2021 was a complex one for the company from Făgăraș, Brașov county, due to the increase in energy costs. Thus, a series of natural gas and electricity price increases were recorded between June 2021 and December 2021.
“The price of gas has increased three times, and of electricity four times. The manufacturing cycle typically closes in 4-8 weeks and therefore manufacturing companies have simultaneously incurred higher energy and raw material costs.”
The year 2022 was marked by the Russian invasion of Ukraine and this turned many international markets upside down, including the global metal market. Thus, the volume of our production evolved very well in the first half of last year, but starting from June a decrease in orders was observed, a trend that was felt in production starting from August.
“Then, until December, we were with production below the budget, but the plus in the first 7 months was enough for a good result at the level of the whole year 2022. The pressure vessels division had a considerable contribution to the good evolution of last year and confirms the expected progress of the investments of the last two years. As the incoming orders were at a very good level in November and December, we are convinced that the beginning of 2023 will be good,” adds Horia Alexander Enciu.
New challenges in international markets and the need for professionalization in the field of production
The main challenges in 2022 concerned the availability of raw material and its delivery on time. The raw material for fittings is seamless pipe, and for pressure vessels the raw material is pipe, sheet metal and flanges, so metallurgical products. The steel pipe is bought from local manufacturers and suppliers and here UPRUC-CTR faced various distortions caused by emotion-driven reactions.
Also, a constant challenge is the availability of qualified personnel, and in this context the company initiated the “UPRUC-CTR School” project in 2022, through which specialists teach and consolidate specific knowledge for the development of trades such as chippers, welders and presses.
The certifications currently held by UPRUC-CTR and the quality of the products allow the company from Făgăraș to deliver for industries with high safety and specialization requirements. The peculiarity of the company UPRUC-CTR is that it delivers 80% of the production of fittings in the EU to customers that are warehousemen or traders. The fittings produced in Făgăraș end up in installations in the fields of oil and gas extraction, transport and processing, power plants and petrochemicals globally.
The pressure vessel division of UPRUC-CTR delivers 50% to Romania and 50% to other EU countries, to companies that integrate the components delivered by us into their assembly, but also to Romanian pipe and installation builders. Also, these products are part of oil and gas, chemical, energy installations.
