Steel Products Prices North America
Tenaris Boosts OCTG Production in U.S.
Written by Tim Triplett
January 25, 2022
Global pipe producer Tenaris is boosting production of oil country tubular goods at its welded mill in Hickman, Ark., to support growing customer demand in the U.S.
“Hot rolled coil prices have begun to drop following massive gains last year, and customer demand continues to grow for domestically made pipe. These conditions make it the right time for a meaningful restart of welded production, part of the ramp-up across the U.S. that began in late 2020,” Tenaris U.S. President Luca Zanotti said. Since October 2020 when Tenaris began its expansion, it has grown its U.S. team by 1,200 employees.
Tenaris had maintained activity at the Hickman plant through 2020 and 2021, but at lower levels due the market downturn. Following improvements in the latter half of 2021 for more efficient manufacturing, the mill will be steadily adding capacity and volumes in the coming months. Tenaris is looking to hire an additional 250 workers for the Hickman facility, the company said.
“These are interesting times for our sector with more favorable movements in the market, though pressures persist in supply chains and with the pandemic. We remain uniquely positioned, leading a dynamic and fast paced scale up of our domestic operations, now with welded production contributing on a greater level to our integrated U.S. network of mills and service centers,” Zanotti said.
By Tim Triplett, Tim@SteelMarketUpdate.com
Tim Triplett
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