KLW is strengthening the company’s positions in the Asian market. Cooperation with national railway operators and extending our presence in the market is the focus today. Oleg Vodolazhskiy, overseas sales manager, told us about Asian priorities.

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– What are KLW’s main priorities in Asia?

– At present we are focusing on working directly with national railway operators, trying to find the most appropriate and beneficial solution for them. For example, in 2015 we won our first tender to supply railway wheels for Pakistan Railways. We confirmed the high quality of our goods and continue working with Pakistani partners this year supplying wheels for freight and locomotive transport in accordance with AAR standard. We hope this will be a long-term cooperation. Also we are in a strong partnership with Indian and Bangladeshi national railway operators and are planning to keep our positions.

– What is the last achievement of KLW in this direction?

– We recently won a large tender for the Saudi Rail Organization, another major national railway operator. It is our first large shipment to Saudi Arabia in recent years. The full volume of the order is 14,000 wheels of 3 types for freight and locomotive wheels in conformity with AAR requirements. We started production in August, 2016. This order represents a strategic development for us in the Middle Eastern market.

– Are we planning to extend KLW presence at Asian market?

– Yes, we have begun to take steps to expand in Asia and successfully compete with local producers. Our most immediate goal is to reenter the Chinese market for locomotive railway wheels. KLW has a long history of cooperation with Ministry of Railways in China, however during recent years our production and strategy were reoriented towards other markets.

Now, compliance with updated Chinese specification for locomotive wheels and recent investments in quality control equipment will allow KLW to complete the process of certification and perform test supplies.

The Company has recently extended capacity of automatic ultrasonic control of wheel products, designed to provide high performance during quality control of large diameter wheels and wheels exceeding 900 Kg weight. This will allow us to divide the production flow for maximum performance at the quality control stage.