Tenaris Declares Partial Restart of Texas Steel Pipe Mill

SEATTLE (Scrap Monster): Tenaris, the leading supplier of steel tubes and pipes, announced its decision to restart a portion of its Conroe, Texas steel pipe plant after three-year suspension of operations.

The partial restart of the plant will create approximately 100 job opportunities, including external and internal hires, in the region. The employees will be assigned with the task of bringing equipment back online and conducting necessary test runs, before the planned restart in September this year.

The heat treatment and finishing activities of steel pipe products are expected to support Tenaris’ ramp up of seamless activity in the U.S. The restart is expected to raise the current activity level at the plant, which had continued to remain as a service center during the downturn. In addition, Tenaris plans to hire nearly 150 more people at its Bat City pipe mill and its Houston pipe threading facility to boost the ramp up of operations.

Luca Zanotti, Tenaris President, USA stated that the company is prepared to respond to the increased domestic demand for pipes. The revival of areas of the Conroe plant will help the company to maximize production from its new mill in Bay City, he said. There has been a significant improvement in market conditions over the past year. Lately, the imposition of tariffs by the U.S. administration further brightens the future for domestic steel industry, he noted. The higher oil prices have led to increased U.S. drilling activity, he added. He credited the rebound in energy sector and Trump’s tariffs for the restart.

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Earlier in February 2015, the company had announced its decision to temporarily suspend the operations at Conroe mill, resulting in the layoff of nearly 230 workers in April. Tenaris had cited surge in imports of unfairly traded oil country tubular goods (OCTG) from South Korea and huge decline in drilling activities following slump in oil prices as the reasons for the temporary suspension of operations.